His stay in Nairobi did not change his attitude towards God. There, the doctor saw people living in “unimaginable conditions”. Crammed into small corrugated iron huts measuring just a few square meters. In 2016, Grienberger travelled to the Kenyan capital with five colleagues for the organization “Austrian Doctors” to treat 200 to 300 patients a day for six weeks.
What was his motivation for this trip? On the one hand, there was the medical incentive, but there was also a thirst for adventure and the joy of helping others. During his ambulance work, the pediatrician was confronted with medical cases that he was not familiar with from home. “Patients came in with fractures that had never been treated,” says the doctor. One case of a colleague particularly stuck in his memory. A child with a burnt oesophagus came to the clinic and there was nothing more the doctors could do: “It was clear that the child would starve to death,” Grienberger recalls. How does the doctor deal with such fates? “You can’t think about these things all the time.” He sees medicine as a craft anyway. If he had done everything medically possible, he would not reproach himself. That’s why his experiences in Africa didn’t change his life. “I can’t say: don’t be so stupid, think about Africa.”
Heinz Grienberger should actually have studied mechanical engineering, as he comes from a family of technicians. “But enjoying wrenching on mopeds and studying mechanical engineering are two different things,” smiles the doctor. He later opted for medicine by process of elimination. Today, the 69-year-old works on two-wheelers in his spare time. In order to be able to use his skilled hands in medicine, Grienberger initially pursued a career as a surgeon. “But as a trauma surgeon, you have very little contact with people.” Grienberger changed his mind and became a pediatrician. “There’s a lot to do on a human level, you need empathy,” explains the 69-year-old. He also has a hypnotic effect on children. “When that became obvious to me, I had to take advantage of it,” smiles the doctor.
Grienberger, who was also head of pediatric oncology at Salzburg State Hospital for a time, no longer has his medical practice. But he is not retired either. He worked in a private clinic – and wants to return to Africa. How much longer does he want to practise? “As long as I’m physically and mentally able to.”
