At a ceremony in Prague on Tuesday night, doctors who treated a child who suffered serious injuries in a racist arson attack were the first recipients of an award honouring Czechs who actively try to improve the situation of Roma in Czech society. The doctors from the children’s department at the intensive care unit of Ostrava hospital received the Gypsy Spirit prize for their care of Natálka, who suffered burns on 80-percent of her body during a fire-bomb attack on her family’s home in Vítkov, north Moravia. The Gypsy Spirit award was created by Minister for Human Rights Michael Kocáb. Former president Václav Havel was amongst the members of the award committee.

After eight months of recovery and numerous operations, Natálka was released from the hospital on Wednesday and is moving into the new home of her parents. She will need to be brought to hospital twice a week as an out patient, her mother Anna Siváková said on Tuesday. Four far-right extremists have been charged in connection with the fire-bomb attack on the family’s home in April.