Our week with a TV crew. Why we opened our home and life to the public.

Two weeks ago, we had a very special and intense week. A camera crew from Germany was with us. One reporter (Emilio) came directly from Germany, another (Lukas) from New York, and the cameraman (Sergio) also from New York. They followed us for a whole week. For a week, we opened up our lives. For a week, we showed what our everyday life with Oliver is really like.

We thought long and hard about whether we should take this step. There was a clear agreement from the beginning: if something happened with Oliver, if there was a moment that wasn't appropriate or was too sensitive, then the camera would be switched off immediately. Thankfully, we never had to enforce that. Nevertheless, this agreement was the basis for us to commit to it.

How it all began

I'd been in contact with RTL reporter Emilio Nigrelli for months. I'll never forget our first phone call in April. It was right when no one knew if Oliver would survive. We were told at the time that he wouldn't make it. I spoke with Emilio for an hour—a very warm and trusting conversation. Shortly afterward, we received a call from the intensive care unit. Oliver was awake. That moment still connects us to Emilio to this day. That's how our story with RTL began.

Of course, not every article was perfect or exactly as we had envisioned it. Sometimes, characters and limited sentences simply weren't enough to convey the full scope of our story. But we were always allowed to intervene. It was adapted, changed, improved. And that was precisely what mattered to us. It was never about sensationalism, but about genuine reporting.

Why we said no three times

When it became clear that we had to go to Chicago, or when the support from the Toni Kroos Foundation became public, the question quickly arose whether RTL could accompany us. They wanted to film with my father-in-law, they wanted to travel with us to Chicago, they wanted to film in the hospital. All well-intentioned. But we couldn't allow it. We couldn't imagine wheeling Oliver into the operating room and then having a camera pressed against our faces to capture how we felt. It would have felt wrong. It wouldn't have been good for Oliver. And it would have emotionally devastated us.

Then came the suggestion to visit us again in Chicago or to fly back to Mexico with us. We declined that too. Our lives were far too unstable, too new, too fragile. We didn't even know what our home in Mexico would look like. It had been prepared for us; we only entered it for the first time when we arrived. We were living out of cardboard boxes, without decoration, without structure. That wouldn't have felt right. So we said no again.

So, in total, we said no to a camera crew three times.

Instead, we only gave online interviews, primarily because the University of Chicago had shown so much interest in Oliver's progress. The clinic also wanted to showcase the medical miracle that was taking place.

Why we said yes now

In recent weeks, we've often been asked why we're staying in Mexico and not returning to Germany. Many people don't understand. And that's understandable. If you only see pictures, read short texts, and often only see Oliver's laughter, then you don't see the whole truth. What the care is like here, the support, how we've settled in. That Oliver also has difficult days, that a two-year-old can have enormous mood swings. That we have to reorganize ourselves every single day. That we have to avoid mistakes because mistakes are dangerous for Oliver. We want to show all of that.

We've settled in now. We've weathered the critical phases. We've optimized our processes. We've found a daily routine that works. Maybe not perfectly, but it works for us. And then we decided we were ready. Ready to open our doors. Ready to show the part of us that you don't usually see on social media.

However, we clearly communicated that we would only allow RTL in because we have trust. Trust in a person. Trust in Emilio.

And then everything happened very quickly. A week and a half later, they were already standing at our door.

The week with the camera crew

Everything was new for us, with a large camera always beside us. Naturally, we received a lot of questions. Why are you doing this? Why are you doing that? Can you explain that again? Some things we couldn't explain while they were happening. When Oliver needs to be suctioned, you have to concentrate. Safety comes first. You only explain things afterward.

On my birthday, there was a moment that was unusual for us. We were supposed to film a scene at a birthday table, with cake and the children. But Oliver wasn't at the table at that moment; he was in the living room. And we immediately knew that it wouldn't be authentic. Since the accident, we never all eat together at the table anymore. We live as a family under one roof, but in shifts. One of us is always with Oliver, the other with the twins. We didn't want to pretend it was any different, us with the twins, Oliver alone with just the nurses. We didn't want to act, we couldn't – it just felt wrong. We can only show our real lives. Nothing more and nothing less. We brought it up, it was accepted, and we appreciated that.

In the interview, we answered every question. We left nothing out. No taboos, no holding back. When you've shared as much as we have, there's nothing left to hide. We don't know what the final report will look like. But we do know that we were ourselves and we showed it. Just like our lives (unfortunately) are.

An ending we hadn't planned.

On the last day, Laura's birthday, friends came by. They brought cake. The cameras were already packed away, filming wrapped. It was essentially over. But of course, we told the crew to stay and toast with us. Nuestra casa es su casa, we've opened our lives up to our own, and for us, it only felt right to spend these last hours together.

There was even a small, unplanned birthday celebration. Totally spontaneous. Totally genuine. Oliver was happy. We set off confetti; that was actually planned for Sunday with the family, but it felt right in the moment. The cameraman ended up bringing the camera out again, simply because the moment was so special. And that was our week. Real. Spontaneous. Unscripted. Exactly how we live.

We parted as friends in the end. And that probably says it all.

Why we do it

We don't do this to be seen. We don't do this to show off—quite the opposite, I really don't like seeing myself, with the German Swabian accent I just can't hide—but we do it because we want to give hope. The world is full of bad news: wars, crime, rising prices, insecurity, pensions, fear. If a story like Oliver's gives people something they lack in their daily lives, if it does them good, if it touches them, then we want to give something back. We've received so much support, so much empathy, so much love. If we can give back even a small part of that, then we will.

And we do it because Oliver is still here. Because he's improving. Because we're witnessing a miracle. If things were different, if he weren't here anymore, we wouldn't be sharing our lives this way. But now we can share hope. And it feels right.

The RTL team with us

Oliver and Emilio

Oliver and Lukas

Behind the scenes

There were gifts for all the children.

Last evening

Visit to Crit

Interview with my father-in-law

We can look in the mirror

We don't know what the documentary will look like in the end. We don't know which scenes will be chosen. We only know what we've shown. And we know that we can stand by everything we've done.

This is our life. This is our blog. This is our journey with Oliver, the twins, and us as parents; we fight every day, and yet we are grateful every day.

We're looking ahead. We're excited about the documentary. And yes, it will be strange to see ourselves on TV. We would have wished for a different life. Quieter, more anonymous, less eventful. Our former life was never boring for us. Just today we looked at pictures and videos of our life before the accident. Oliver was happy to see himself running, boxing with Julian and Basti, simply being a kid.

We have hope. And we believe in what's to come. And we know that Oliver's story doesn't end. This was just a glimpse. There's more to come.

Oh yes, Tuesday, November 18th, 10:30 PM, RTL Extra - German television. The first major documentary about Oliver. RTL also visited Dr. Bydon in Chicago, met Dr. Alfredo in Mexico, and visited our house in Königsbronn, Germany, where they met my parents and our real-estate agent, in Mexico Laura's parents, Oliver's lifesaver, and shared new information and events we've never shared before – and which we knew nothing about until recently.

Oliver is alive and with us - that is the miracle!