My leg went slack like a rag when the bullet hit me

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Petra Erbanová, née Šoršová, was born on 31 May 1948 in Liberec. She attended a secondary medical school in Ústí nad Labem, specialising as a dental assistant. On 21 August 1968 she set out to work despite the ongoing occupation. When nearing her workplace in the very centre of Liberec, she was shot in her right leg by a soldier of the occupying Warsaw Pact forces. She ended up in hospital in Liberec. It took her seven months to recover from the wound, and she still suffers the consequences. During the normalisation she was repeatedly subjected to the suspicious and insensitive approach of state officials and her employer. She was active in the streets during the Velvet Revolution in 1989. Since 1995 she has been working at the safe house Speramus in Liberec. She raised two sons. As of 2017 she lives in Liberec.