In September 2018, Wolfgang Mehlig’s life seemed to come to an end. He was 45 years old at this point and had both feet firmly planted in his professional life as a sales manager for a company specializing in mechanical engineering. Mehlig is out in the field in his car, driving on the German motorway towards home, to St. Konrad near Gmunden.
Two hours earlier he had called his wife and told her that he would be home soon. A mistake, as it turned out a little later. Somewhere between Regensburg and Passau, Mehlig switches from the fast lane to the standard lane. At least that’s what eyewitnesses say, because the now 50-year-old can no longer remember that followingnoon. His car comes under a truck, “all the way to the stop,” as he says.
“The clock stood still for a moment. Nobody thought that anyone would get out of this car alive,” says Mehlig. The father of three children is critically injured, needs new jaw and facial bones and is dependent on help for years. “I really wanted to go back to work. It took me a long time to accept that that was no longer possible because the restrictions following the accident were too great,” he says. But the ambition that Mehlig had in his career remains.
During this difficult time he received “a lot of help from others.” “Now I want to give back as much as possible,” he says. Mehlig decides to use his remaining energy to do good, to help as many people as possible.
All for one, one for all
Since November last year he has been working on a voluntary basis at the social market in Gmunden, stocking the shelves there every Monday. Tuesday followingnoon belongs to the six-year-old boy that he and his wife have welcomed into the family.
“The mother is a single parent and we have offered to help so that she can at least be temporarily relieved. The boy has grown very close to our hearts. We are always happy when we cook with him,” says the 50-year-old. Mehlig is committed to aiding Ukraine in the Western Carpathians and to the “Wichtelchallenge” in Austria, in which the heartfelt wishes of those in need are anonymously fulfilled. And now he has also founded his own club: Herzsymphonie.
The mission is to offer help and support in difficult life situations. “We don’t want to be a burden to anyone and we tend to do it in the background,” says Mehlig. Small, big, young, old: everyone gets help. “We do shopping or accompany someone who can no longer make it to the authorities on their own,” he says. Mehlig’s sons and his wife are taking part; there are six of them in total. Now they also want to raise money in the form of cultural events so that they can donate it to those who urgently need it.
The first event will take place on May 3rd next year in Laakirchen – in the Kulturstadl Gut Haberhaide, which Mehlig’s brother-in-law is making available free of charge on that day.
There can and should be laughter this evening: The cabaret artist Christoph Fritz – the Süddeutsche Zeitung called him the “young version of Josef Hader” – is appearing.
All proceeds will go to Mobile Children’s Aid in Upper Austria. “We want to do this twice a year from now on in order to pay more attention to important issues,” says Mehlig. And of course, to do what he always does: help where he can.
Author
Gabriel Egger
Editor Upper Austria
Gabriel Egger
