Mrs. Marta, the daughter of a patient who underwent surgery years ago at the hospital in Zdunowo, Szczecin, has come forward to TV Republika. The woman decided to break her silence and present both her father’s medical documentation and her mother’s private notes. These materials shed new light on the corruption allegations directed at Professor Tomasz Grodzki. Mrs. Marta has declared her readiness to testify in the trial that the former Speaker of the Senate has brought against TV Republika’s editor-in-chief, Tomasz Sakiewicz.
The matter returns to public attention in connection with the criminal trial in which a verdict is expected tomorrow. Tomasz Grodzki accused Tomasz Sakiewicz of defamation after the editor-in-chief referred to him as “a common bribe-taker.” Mrs. Marta, who reached out to TV Republika, decided to tell her story now to support the journalist.
Mrs. Marta says she chose to speak out and share the medical documentation because, in her view, Professor Tomasz Grodzki has been avoiding responsibility for his actions and instead pursuing journalists who write about what took place in his hospital.
The Father’s Ordeal and the Beginning of the Torment
The story of Mrs. Marta’s family goes back to 1996, when her father was diagnosed with brain cancer. He underwent his first operation at the hospital on Unii Lubelskiej Street in Szczecin. As his daughter recalls, no one ever mentioned any additional payments at that time.
“We were even called in for consultations at midnight, but I don’t remember anyone talking about money or bribes,” Mrs. Marta says.
The situation changed dramatically when, at the end of February the following year, an ultrasound scan suggested that the brain tumor might be a metastasis from the lungs.
Although, according to the woman, the examination did not confirm this, the family was advised to transfer the patient to the hospital in Zdunowo.
At that hospital, the key figure was the then head of the department, Tomasz Grodzki. In Mrs. Marta’s mother’s notebook from 1997, there is a brief but telling note:
“Referral to Zdunowo. Only Grodzki can decide this.”
“The Donation Phone Call”
In Zdunowo, the family waited for a decision on whether surgery would be performed. According to Mrs. Marta’s account, they received confirmation that her father would be operated on after nine days in the hospital. But the relief was short-lived.
“Two days later, someone called my mother and said we needed to pay a ‘donation’ for my father’s surgery,” she recalls.
In her mother’s calendar, there is a note from March 14, 1997:
“Visited the head of department at 11:00. Phone call about the donation.”
Mrs. Marta witnessed her mother’s humiliation, as, against all her lifelong principles, she decided to pay.
“I was there when my mother went into the head of department’s office and gave him the money. She told me to wait outside; she didn’t want to take me with her. She had always taught us that you must never give bribes. But this situation changed everything. She wanted to save my father, and although it humiliated her deeply, she decided to pay,” she recounts.
She also remembers her mother’s condition after leaving the office:
“I remember when she came out, she said, ‘I gave a bribe.’ I could see she felt like a beaten dog. She even said something like, ‘That smart aleck tricked me.’”
Another reference to the situation appears in her mother’s notebook. Under the date March 24, 1997, she wrote:
“Trouble – 220 złoty plus chocolates…”
An Unnecessary Operation?
Despite the payment, the family’s ordeal continued. Mrs. Marta’s father died a month after the operation. According to his daughter, the surgery was unnecessary and did not help at all.
“My mother couldn’t come to terms with it, especially since, in our opinion, the surgery wasn’t needed at all. My father was already dying; the procedure didn’t change anything,” says Mrs. Marta.
She adds that her mother’s pain was intensified by the words of the attending physician, who allegedly tried to persuade her to agree to the operation by asking:
“Don’t you want to know where the cancer is?”
Burdened by the trauma of those events, Mrs. Marta was unable for years to revisit the matter. Today, as she declares, she is ready to testify in court.