Help Luka get urgent medical treatment

Meet Luka – a playwright by profession, a poet by passion, who at the age of 32 already worked as a director, drama and movie critic, screenwriter for television, comics and video games. He grew up in Serbia, but his love for a young woman from Cracow brought him to Poland, which quickly became his second home. Natalia and Luka got married in 2018. They talked in English, argued in Russian, and eventually Luka learned Polish – so he could once in a while have a final word in the argument.

Luka was only 26 when he was first diagnosed with a brain tumor. He had a successful craniotomy which removed the tumor entirely and Luka was able to return to his usual activities after only a few weeks. He started to create again.

In 2018, Luka faced a recurrence. He once again went through surgery, followed by radiotherapy. He won that battle too. Luka and Natalia got married, he got a dream job as a screenwriter in a TV series, his plays found their way to the stage, and he also started a prestigious postgraduate study for TV shows screenwriting. Life was good again.

We would really wish to tell you that his struggle ended there. But in 2021 the tumor returned. And this time in a malicious form – a glioblastoma. He had a craniotomy after which his speech ability was impaired again. An award-winning writer fluent in 4 languages now struggled to write his own name. Luka was prescribed with chemotherapy, with a good prognosis that it will work, but the results of his latest MRI were devastating - the tumor has grown back and surgery is not an option anymore.

Despite having bad luck, he has no intention of giving up or feeling sorry for himself. He is working hard with his speech therapist and has improved his speech significantly. His courage, sense of humor and inexhaustible will to live inspire his family and friends to continue fighting. His parents, sister, wife, his new Polish family and a whole lot of friends and colleagues, whose lives he has touched in a wonderful way are not ready to let him go.

The light of hope has appeared in from of an innovative drug available in Japan: DELYTACT®(teserpaturev/G47∆), the first oncolytic virus therapy of this kind for brain cancer. The virus in the drug is designed to selectively kill tumor cells without affecting normal tissues. After reviewing his medical documentation, the doctors at the Institute of Medical Science at the University of Tokyo said they would accept Luka as their patient.

The cost of the therapy is beyond what his family can cover. We need $305.000 to send Luka to Japan. Since his disease is developing quickly, we are in a race against time. Your kindness has the power to save him, and we will be extremely grateful for any amount.

Luka carries so much goodness, he still has so many incredible creations, dreams and ideas to share with the world. Help us save Luka. Save all of us who cannot imagine life without him. Let's give him a chance to one day write a play about winning the fight against cancer. Let's write a happy ending to his story.

Your donations would be used to cover the expenses of Luka’s treatment in Tokyo, as well as travel and accommodation expenses for Luka and one person that would accompany him during the treatment.