Felix Willi wraps everyone around his finger

Felix Willi likes cars. And his colourful plastic car park. On the upper deck, he lines up small vehicles one behind the other, gives them a push and they whizz off. Always round and round. Now his new favourite word, which he learned in sign language, comes into play: "Again!" The two-and-a-half-year-old can hear when he wears his headband with hearing aid, and he can also speak more and more words. "Nevertheless, we prefer to use two languages," says his mum Franziska Bolte. What Felix can't say yet, he makes up for with a great deal of charm. He has long since wrapped the staff at the Bethel Children's Centre around his finger. When he wants something, he gently taps his counterpart and smiles mischievously. The paediatric nurses have taken him to their hearts.

"Felix feels at home at Bethel," says his mum. And that's important, because he often has to go to hospital. To check his blood values, for example. Felix has a rare form of anaemia and sometimes he needs a transfusion. His oesophagus has had to be dilated countless times. His breathing is also checked. Does he need a new tracheostomy tube? This is a plastic tube that is inserted into the windpipe. During the day, secretions can be sucked out or inhaled mechanically, at night the boy is ventilated. He receives most of his food and fluids via a feeding tube. Felix knows no other way. He is cheerful. "But sometimes he's also stubborn," says his mum.

Your son observes his environment very closely. Learns. Runs. Climbs. Even if there is the occasional bump. He dashes across the corridors at the Children's Centre. "His favourite thing is the wooden houses on the wards, with toys and books in them," says Franziska Bolte. But sometimes Felix just sits on the bench in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows. Because you can always see cars outside.

Text: Heike Lepkojis | Picture: Matthias Cremer