“How wonderful it would be to brush your own teeth again”

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Philipp Kutter has to ask twice. He didn’t pay attention to himself for a while, he says. Who is he talking to? He is in a wheelchair, his upper body tilted slightly towards the mobile phone strapped to his left. It is only when asked that it becomes clear that he has not deliberately bent over his smartphone to call someone. No – he’s asking for help because his upper body has somehow slipped to the left and he can’t get up. He can only move his left hand by himself.

It is Thursday evening at the Paraplegic Center Nottwil LU. SonntagsBlick visits perhaps the most famous patient here: Philipp Kutter (47), secondary national councilor and mayor of Wädenswil ZH, married, father of two school-aged daughters. He has been partially paralyzed since a skiing accident in Scuol GR. In a fall – on the blue slope – he broke his fifth cervical vertebra.

Alliance blacksmith in federal Bern

Until that February 3, he was a man who didn’t have to ask for help, but someone who handled things and shaped things, who – as the saying goes – lived in the middle. As “Stapi”, he is the local hero in his lakeside community and jumped off the diving tower to open the pool season. In federal Bern he was a tactician and ally. In 2020, he caused a stir for single-handedly pushing through an area-wide increase in child benefits of CHF 370 million. Subsequently, as chairman of the responsible education subcommittee of the National Council, he worked out the law for national financing of day care centers. Cost to the federal government: about 710 million francs.

No parliamentarian knows the rules better than he does. When it comes to social issues he likes to make deals with the left, and when it comes to media politics he is emphatically civil. On March 1, Kutter experienced a major triumph at the Federal Palace: a center-left majority in the Grand Chamber accepted the childcare funding proposal. Kutter had to watch this success from far away Nottwil.

Nine months of rehabilitation

He has been treated there since February 4. At 8 o’clock I go to the nursing home, at 10 o’clock therapy starts, then lunch, and therapy again in the afternoon. Tuesday will be his 100 days in the center. A nine-month rehabilitation period is planned, according to the plan, Kutter should be able to leave the clinic at the end of October.

What do you care if you need help with a stroke, if you can’t even take a sip of water without help?

“This is what I need to learn”

Kutter speaks carefully, not slowly, but with pauses, his left hand occasionally wandering to his face. “It’s a very big change,” he says. “I need help for things I’ve never had to ask anyone for – and today very often I have to ask my loved ones for something. You have to get used to that. I have to learn this. I don’t really like asking about every move.” At the same time, he attaches importance to the statement: “But I can also help.” Digitization is a blessing. Today’s mobile phones can be operated reasonably well with your voice.

In his canton, Kutter made headlines this week for announcing that despite his disability, he would run for the State Council in the fall—he never uses the word disability. It seems that he now really wants to focus on politics. And the city council of Wädenswil? He has also thought carefully about that, says Kutter: “I would like to keep the office.”

“Until now I have never fallen into a hole”

Of course, the therapy costs him physical and mental strength, “but why shouldn’t I be able to participate in an election campaign or on a stage?” After all, there are two main requirements for politics: “You must be able to talk and think clearly. The latter is often denied to politicians,” he laughs.

Anyone who talks to Kutter will hear this mischievous laugh over and over again. Does he never have moments when he wants to give up? “Of course I sometimes think: oh, I should have eaten a cream cake with my friends in the café in Scuol instead of skiing. But so far I have never fallen into a hole. I’m not arguing.”

Weekly family visit

Family is an important factor. His daughters are nine and eleven years old. There is a sticker on his vehicle that reads “Dear Dad”. “My family is extremely important, they give me incredible support.” Kutter raves about how his wife “holds the store together”. His children’s biggest problem is that he is not with them. “They just want me home soon. Whether you’re a pedestrian or a wheelchair user, it’s not that important.” He sees them on video every day and they visit at least once a week.

Kutter wants to stay true to his political record – and yet the changed situation has an impact: “I am now one of the people with disabilities, I am sure that I have more sense now.”

It has always been important to him that everyone in Switzerland can participate on an equal footing. He commemorates marriage for everything he stood for. “It would be my pleasure if I could be the voice of people with disabilities in the Council of States.”

small goals

What is his goal? “You also have to enjoy the small successes: being able to lift the espresso cup or move your thumb. Now I’m trying to brush my teeth again. That would be great!”

Ironically, Kutter’s paralysis brings even more movement to the election campaign of the Council of States of Zurich. The stroke of fate earned him a lot of media attention – and a lot of sympathy. SVP and FDP strategists, who are vying with Gregor Rutz (50) and Regine Sauter (57) for the vacant seat, may have become a little more nervous since Kutter’s announcement. With his political profile, however, Kutter mainly puts pressure on the incumbent Daniel Jositsch (58) of the SP, who was previously regarded as determined and caused irritation with his failed candidacy for the Bundesrat. So it can get exciting.

But Kutter has something more important in mind: “The big goal is that one day I can manage my daily life independently again.”

Source:Blick