Last November, Júlia Szász was seriously injured when, during the performance of Romeo and Juliet, she and her co-star, Lajos Otto Horváth, fell from the upper floor of the set, which was equipped with iron traverses. The actress has now told ELLE about her recovery.
Júlia Szász in the Caucasian chalk circle / Photo: Zsolt Szabó Eöri
“I still get around with crutches outside, but only with one, and without crutches in the apartment. I still need to get stronger, especially my legs, but also my soul. My mood is fluctuating, I have flashbacks of the accident, but overall I might be fine. They ask me when I plan to return, but I am still focused on recovery. The next control will be at the end of April, then I will be smarter about the future. After the accident, the doctors said it would take at least half a year to heal, but probably a year from now I will still feel that it stings here and there, is numb, and is more sensitive. But now I’m not in a hurry,” Júlia Szász told the newspaper, whose leg was broken in two places, at the tibia and tibia.
“This was fixed with an iron, medullary nailing, I now have two large screws in me. I have three broken ribs, one cracked. It was probably as a result of this that I became pneumothorax, I was returned to the hospital, where after a few days of observation, my chest was intubated. Most likely my rib injured my lung. There was a period when I was X-rayed every single day, which was quite difficult for me, it was stressful wondering what the doctor would see, whether my condition had worsened, whether I needed to be intubated again, whether my lungs needed to be operated on. Fortunately, these did not take place in the end,” reported the actress.
In response to the suggestion that an accident is always a transformative event in a person’s life, he revealed:
“I have survived very intense years. I didn’t have time to take stock of many things, or even get to the point where I thought about where I was and what I wanted. I practically reached a state close to burnout, so without over-spiritualizing the matter, I feel that my accident was fateful. It was time to get off the treadmill, stop and redesign. I am passionate about what I do, but many times it has been too difficult. With the maximalism and experience that is required for this profession, it is not possible to spin endlessly. I know that other people also work a lot, it’s easier for some people, I was a little empty in it. In the past months, I put basic things in place, thought about what is important and what is not, what decisions I want to make in the future, how to proceed after recovery. For example, I realized how important my family is, who have been by my side the whole time, and with whom I previously spent less time than I would have liked. I also had to think about whether the work would give me back as much as I put into it,” explained the actress.
He also reported that he still ponders on a daily basis what he should do in the future. In the beginning, the physical part of the recovery occupied his attention, now only the spiritual work comes, after his bones have finally fused. However, even in the hospital, he realized what he did not want and how he did not want to continue his life.
He was also honest about having breakdowns and that healing is not linear: “Every time I feel like I’m finally okay, something hits me that rips open wounds and brings certain things to the surface in me.”
“Ever since I was admitted to the university, my life has been about spinning, it was normality for me. In this profession, there are established phrases that a beginning actor already encounters as a university student: if you are sick, go as sick, if you are an actor, go as an actor, a tired actor is a good actor, a hungry actor is a good actor, etc. Of course, these do not have to be taken literally, but if a person is conditioned to suppress his basic needs, himself, all of this as a misinterpretation of diligence and humility, it does not lead in the right direction,” stated Júlia Szász, who believes that tirelessness the world praises us while we lose touch with ourselves, even though self-reflection and inward attention are necessary so that people can stop from time to time.