<div>The Fight for Sao (Sejad)
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>This is a request straight from the heart for our friend, Sejad, known to all as Sao.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Sao, at the young age of 41, is an amazing person, a loving husband and father to two beautiful teenage boys. His wife, Christine, is the most amazing and supportive person we've ever met, doing absolutely everything she can to support Sao and improve his quality of life.
</div>
<div><br />
</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/95590087_176056896846137_r.jpeg" width="100%" />
<div><br />
</div>
<div>In August 2023, just as Sao was celebrating five years of remission from Stage 3B Lymphoma, he received the devastating diagnosis of Stage 4 Peritoneal Cancer. This came with a terminal prognosis of only 12-18 months with standard care.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Despite this crushing news and the lack of viable surgical options in Australia, Sao and Christine have been totally relentless, financing multiple trips overseas for state-of-the-art medical treatments in places like Mexico and Germany. Some of those individual treatments alone cost upwards of $40,000 AUD each (with multiple treatments per trip).
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>This latest, comprehensive medical program in Europe, which offers Sao the best chance for extending his life, is the most critical and most costly yet, adding up to over $140,000 AUD just for the treatment itself.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>After exhausting standard options and other treatments around the world, Sao is now receiving innovative regional chemotherapy under the care of <strong>Dr. Karl Aigner</strong> in <strong>Germany</strong>, one of the few doctors in the world pioneering this targeted treatment approach. Unlike traditional chemotherapy that circulates through the whole body, <strong>regional chemotherapy delivers anti-cancer medication directly into the affected organs </strong>and blood supply.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>This allows for much higher concentrations at the tumour sites while minimizing damage to the rest of the body. The procedure is intricate and performed in a highly specialized facility, often involving isolated perfusion, intra-arterial infusions, and organ-targeted perfusion cycles designed to attack the cancer where it lives most aggressively.
</div>
<div>Each treatment is carefully tailored to Sao’s individual condition, targeting the peritoneal and pleural areas, with the goal of controlling tumour growth, reducing fluid buildup, and improving his quality of life. While this therapy is complex and still in its early stages for him, regional chemotherapy has offered meaningful results for many patients in similar situations with some even achieving complete remission.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>It’s still early days, the beginning of a new and challenging journey, but we are already seeing encouraging signs of response. Sao is meeting each day with courage, resilience, and hope.
</div>
<div>His care team believes that continued treatment could bring real stability and the chance for more time, and that hope means everything to us.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>The Financial Challenge is Overwhelming</strong>
</div>
<div>This international medical journey has created an immense financial burden. The cost of this specialised, lifesaving treatment program alone is already in excess of $140,000 AUD. This figure covers only the medical side; it doesn't include the enormous secondary expenses for this multi-week trip: flights, accommodation, food, medication, and supportive care for him and his carer.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Compounding this stress, Sao can no longer work, losing their main source of income, and his wife is working part-time while trying to care for him and their two teenage boys. Sao is too proud to ask for help, but his illness has made it financially necessary, and he's exhausted from the treatment itself. We, his mates, are kicking off this campaign on his behalf so he can focus entirely on healing.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>A Critical Need for Comfort: The Flight Home</strong>
</div>
<div>Beyond the major treatment costs, there is one immediate and vital need we are trying to meet for Sao’s comfort.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>He faces an extremely difficult 20+ hour flight home after his treatment finishes. Last time, the long journey was excruciating. The medical advice is clear: Sao desperately needs to be able to keep his legs elevated to manage his symptoms and pain during the journey. This requires an upgrade to a business class seat, which is currently out of reach financially.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Your donation will directly help us fund this urgent upgrade, guaranteeing him a comfortable and dignified journey home to his family.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>How Your Donation Helps
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Every dollar raised will be utilised for:
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>1. <strong>Lifesaving Treatment</strong>: Covering some of the outstanding costs of his specialised treatment program in Germany.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>2. <strong>Essential Travel &amp; Living</strong>: Accommodation, flights, and food for Sao
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>3. <strong>Immediate Comfort</strong>: Securing the vital business class seat for the 20+ hour return flight (where he requires his feet elevated due to fluid buildups from the treatments)
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>We know it's a huge goal, but we are asking our community to rally around Sao. If you can't donate, please utilise the power of your network and share this link far and wide.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Let’s help our mate Sao fight this battle without the added stress of financial ruin. Thank you for your kindness and support.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>On behalf of Sao (Sejad) and his family,
</div>
<div>Cristian Ambrozie
</div>
<div><br />
</div>

Aiden Rogers

Dylan Pinksterboer

Sabina Puskar

Vinod Kaushik

Caitlin Stone

Jim Dalton

Danielle Verdoorn

Belinda Tolli

Fallontierney@hotmail.com Fallon tierney

Warren Tierney

Anna Cuscuna

Raelene Deen

Wendy & Richard Leo

Vincent Crisapulli

Bridget Bruzzaniti

Anonymous

Eli Holod

Ben Holod

Mirza Karahasan

Help Sao get lifesaving treatment & return home safely!

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

currencyCode

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

writePath

Stream Notification

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

Native 11.3.0 and above

Influencer - Prod

US fundraisers and US users

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Help Sao get lifesaving treatment & return home safely!

Still $2,601 to go. Help us build momentum.