We received a sentence: DMD ❗️Our little son is terminally ill, and the treatment costs millions… Please help!

There are moments in life that divide it into two parts - “before” and “after”. Not long ago, we thought we had finally started a normal life after a series of difficult experiences. We lived in Holland for the past eight years, and both our children, Tosia and Staś, were born and raised there. That’s where we started building our house, worked, and dreamt of a peaceful future.

Unfortunately, my mom and my husband’s dad passed away. After our losses, we decided to come back to Poland. We wanted to stay close to our loved ones and to the people who offered comfort in the hardest moments.

That’s when fate gave us hope. We could continue working for the same Dutch company - in its branch located in Lodz. We believed we had started a new chapter in our lives.

We had no idea that the worst was yet to come. Our little son required rehabilitation from the first months of his life due to hypotonia. By strictly following all the specialists' orders, we contributed to Staś's progress. We thought that from now on, everything would be all right. 

However, we didn’t know we had the hardest battle of our lives ahead of us. In November, everything stopped. After our son had received the mononucleosis diagnosis, he spent three weeks in the hospital, isolated. We were scared. The disease took a toll on his tiny body.

After we returned home from the hospital, we wanted to believe the worst was over. Unfortunately, Staś’s physical therapist noticed that despite our efforts, the progress was too little. That’s when we started further testing.

In the Polish Mother’s Health Center Institute in Lodz, we heard a diagnosis that put our lives on hold entirely. For the next few weeks, we held on to hope that the doctors might have been wrong. After all, none of our family members had this disease before.

Staś has Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a progressive disorder that slowly deprives him of strength, physical abilities, and a chance for a future. Since the diagnosis, we’ve been living in indescribable fear, between hope and helplessness.

We’ve also been constantly searching for treatment solutions for our little son in Poland and abroad. Holding on to every possible chance for Staś’s recovery. Currently, we’re in the middle of the qualification process for gene therapy.

For parents of children with DMD, it’s the last resort to stop the disease that tries to take away our son’s future. Unfortunately, the treatment costs over a dozen million zlotys!

Initially, we couldn’t understand why a single treatment cost so much money. And then, we looked at Staś, his smile, his little hands, reaching out to us, not knowing about our battle to save his life.

In that moment, we realized something - we have no right to surrender! Our 4-year-old daughter, Tosia, Staś’s sister, is too little to understand what we’re going through, but old enough to notice our tears… That’s when she comes up to me and asks, “Why am I crying?”… That just breaks my heart! How to explain to a child your fear for her little brother? Your willingness to give everything to take the disease away from him? Our Staś is only two years old… He has no idea that every morning, his parents wake up in fear, looking for help all over the globe. He trusts us immensely, smiles, and gives us a hug. He sees us as great fixers of everything.

We’ll do everything not to let him down! In a couple of years, Staś might not even remember the struggles he’s been going through, the hospital, the tests and examinations, or our fear. However, what happens to him now can impact his whole life. This is why we are fighting every day, and asking you to join us. Please support Staś!

You cannot imagine how much your every penny, share, kind word, and prayer mean to us! With your help, our little son has a chance for treatment, which we’ll never be able to afford. We believe that one day, Staś will ask us about his story…

We want to tell him someday that even though our world fell apart, we never gave up. Thanks to the good-hearted people, we fought for you until the end…

Staś’s hopeful parents