Carmen Herceg does not believe in silence.She believes that it is worth fighting and talking publicly about the problems she is facing, and in the 44 years of her life, they have not bypassed her at all.Carmen has a degree from the Faculty of Textile Technology, majoring in textile and clothing design, and has been a proud owner of a tailoring and design craft for 16 years.Her work is well known to the Šibenik public, she has had numerous fashion shows, participated in various projects, and in the first days of the crown, when there was a shortage of masks, she sewed them for children for free.Carmen, as many know, has a 100 percent disability.She was born with underdeveloped fists and no right foot, which is why she has been wearing a prosthesis since childhood to be able to walk.It was this prosthesis that caused a storm in the public these days, because Carmen, used to fighting in life, did not want to be silent.Namely, the prosthesis she received two years ago broke in two places and, according to the prosthetists, could not be repaired.The specialist medical report also states that he is a very active, employed person and that he needs a new foot.However, a week later, on April 5, the Croatian Health Insurance Institute (HZZO) sent a negative answer:- The aid is not approved because the same aid was approved and taken over on March 17, 2020 for a period of 3 years, so it is in use.In other words, Carmen had to walk with a broken prosthesis for another year, and since, she says, that is actually impossible, she would have to live without a prosthesis until March next year.- I would like to meet those who have passed such regulations.Have they ever met a disabled person wearing a prosthesis?Where did they get the right and on the basis of what facts did they decide that a new prosthesis can be obtained every three years.I know that the state saves money on us, but it is not their money but mine and all of us who fill the budget.It is absurd that instead of encouraging us to work and being useful to society, they are denying and humiliating us in this way.Health is important to everyone.It is also important to me: if I walk without a prosthesis, I blame myself, my hip and spine suffer.I don't need publicity, I have the guts and energy to push until I get what I'm entitled to, but I know people who are ashamed or don't know their rights, young people whose self-esteem is damaged and have complexes because of their condition, and that leaves consequences for growing up and then HZZO, which should make it easier for them, complicates the situation with such regulations - Karmen revolted.'I would like to meet those who have passed regulations like this.Have they ever met a disabled person wearing a prosthesis?This, she points out, prompted her to send a public appeal in which, among other things, she stated this: "Shame on you, you should live with this for a year so that I can see you!", Saying that neither she nor others who facing the same problems will not allow them to be punished because they dare to live actively!Reactions, calls and support of many people followed quickly, says Karmen, and when the media dust swirled, only three days after her prosthesis was not approved, the HZZO received a different answer: "We want to report that Ms. Karmen Herceg exercised the right to the requested orthopedic aid (prosthesis) in accordance with Article 18 of the Ordinance on Orthopedic Aids ".They also stated that their positive solution came after she submitted the necessary medical documentation, but Carmen claims that this is not true, she submitted the documentation as soon as she asked for a new prosthesis.- They called me on my cell phone and said that they approved my prosthesis, but it is not true that I did not enclose the documentation.When they first rejected me, they wrote that the three-year deadline had not yet expired and that was why they could not get a new prosthesis, and not that the documentation was not complete.That is rude and callous.It is unfortunate that this was resolved as soon as it spread through the media.I don't feel like a winner because of that, because I've been through something similar before and I wouldn't be surprised if everything is the same again in a few years - says Carmen.He adds that the prosthesis he receives through the Croatian Health Insurance Fund has so far cost 12,600 kuna and is not of special quality.If you procured it privately, it would be many times more expensive.- I get a foot made of carbon fiber.It is an internal construction to which a rubber cover comes.However, it does not exist in the size of my healthy foot, but the prosthesis is bigger, so I have to buy shoes according to the prosthesis, the number is bigger, so I have to put cotton in the shoe for a healthy foot.I'm not rich enough to pay for a prosthesis privately.After all, if I am entitled, and as a craftsman I pay health insurance and all contributions, why would I pay privately.Not just me, but everyone - Carmen thinks.And because of bad prostheses, she walked barefoot for half of her life.- These prostheses, in addition to being aesthetically weird, created blisters and wounds, so I mostly walked barefoot for half my life.Because that material is wasted.Due to walking and friction, it heats up and starts peeling after a few months of getting a new denture.The more you walk, the more it peels.You know how uncomfortable and painful it is if a stone falls into your shoe, and when the inner layer of the prosthesis starts to peel, it's like someone threw a handful of stones in your shoe.Only you can take off your shoe and throw out a pebble, and I can just grit my teeth, walk on and suffer.As a child I was also able to change my dentures only every two years.That is nonsense.The baby grows in a few months.There were cases where I got a yellow denture as if I didn’t know what, joined in part and with a band-aid.That's weird.That in the 21st century I have to hide my dentures so as not to scare the people around me is rude and humiliating.Dentures are now changed every three years, but their quality is such that they can’t last that long.I have come to terms with the fact that they do not look nice and that I cannot wear the shoes I want, but the ones I can put a prosthesis in, but I cannot give up on making my prosthesis comfortable - Carmen emphasizes.Once, she says, she even made a prosthesis in private, but she was not lucky with it either.She was heavier than her healthy leg, so everything hurt when she walked.In the end, she could no longer use it, and 3,000 euros went to waste.He can no longer afford such experiments.She is aware that there are not many companies in Croatia that deal with the production of orthopedic aids and cooperate with the Croatian Health Insurance Fund, so the possibility of choice is not particularly great.However, a quality prosthesis is not a luxury, but an essential need of every person with a disability, Carmen points out.All the more unjust and illogical laws and regulations, above all a callous system, hurt even more, but also anger.Carmen will still have to wait for the new prosthesis.Now that the HZZO approval has arrived, he will have to wait two and a half weeks for the prosthetist of the chosen company to return from the annual.But even that is better than going to Zadar or Split to get her fingerprint.because he can do it now in Šibenik.This is followed by the production of dentures and tests, so the new one could be ready in three weeks or a month.But Carmen does not intend to give up efforts to change the controversial ordinance on the approval of such otropedic aids every three years.- It is funny that people think that those with disabilities are automatically and intellectually damaged.I guess that's why they do things like this to us.That perception hasn’t changed since I know for myself, but I invite people to join me and fight it together!- Herceg is determined.