Vedrana Rudan, a well-known Croatian writer, openly and bluntly shares her tough battle with cancer. On her Facebook profile and website rudan.info, she describes how the disease haunts her, and even worse – how her family turns their backs on her. Her pension of 460 euros barely covers medicines and check-ups, and her son hasn’t visited her for four whole months! While fighting a brutal disease, Vedrana faces psychological pressures, feelings of betrayal, and anger towards a state and society that have left her stranded.
In a piece titled “Police Officers in My Head,” Vedrana recounts a conversation with a psychologist who told her she isn’t depressed but that her head is full of “police officers” – internal critics dictating how she should behave. While society and the state offer no support, she battles her own demons and the cold attitude of a son who hasn’t spent even fifteen minutes with her in four months.
Vedrana spares no one – sharply criticizing a Thompson concert and asking, “Are we Ustaše?” Her honesty and rage at a system that abandoned her will make many think twice.
She admits cancer is a vicious disease, it’s hard, but she refuses to pretend everything is fine. Her fight is also a fight for dignity, for humanity in a world where there’s less and less room for it.
Think it’s easy? Think again. Vedrana lost ten kilos, her pension is 460 euros, and medicines and check-ups cost tens of euros. Yet, she doesn’t give up. Her message is clear: “Don’t let anyone live in your head if they don’t pay rent!”
What about you? Could you endure such a fight? Or would you have given up long ago? Drop a comment, share your thoughts, or just say – who’s the real hero here? Vedrana or the system that forgot?
Welcome to a world where cancer is just the start of the problems, and family and state are often the biggest enemies.
