A Fundraiser for Little Novak and his Family

My name is Steven Cujic. My nephew Novak just spent his 2nd birthday in isolation at the Sydney Children’s Hospital, as he has been diagnosed with Acute Undifferentiated Leukaemia (AUL), an extremely rare form of leukaemia that has no established treatment protocols.

Since diagnosis in January, Novak has undergone two rounds of intense chemotherapy which is designed to destroy his immune system and takes weeks to recover from. His mother Peta has stayed with him in hospital as he’s undergone chemotherapy, with intense pain, fevers, nausea, blood transfusions, infections, and 15 procedures under general anaesthetic. Although these rounds of chemo failed, Novak is now responding very positively to an experimental drug in conjunction with more chemotherapy. Novak’s family are hopeful this will get him to the bone marrow transplant he needs.

Born with a prognosis of Cerebral Palsy and significant disabilities, Novak had made amazing progress prior to his cancer diagnosis. However, these past 5 months have taken a heavy toll on Novak and many of the major milestones he achieved have now regressed. Still, Novak is lovable, cheeky and has a huge drive for life. Such a brave little man - even on his worst days he can manage a smile and blows kisses to the nurses and doctors.

Novak and his Mum Peta have spent most of this year in hospital and are looking at many more months to come. They have missed big brother Nikola’s 4th birthday and their family life is fractured. When Nikola does have a rare chance to see his little brother, he tells him he loves him and asks when mummy is coming home. Mum has had to close her business and Dad has reduced his working hours. The emotional and financial strain has been indescribable.

Novak and his family still have a long and stressful journey ahead. Any funds raised will help support my nephews’ care and provide my brother and his wife Petar and Peta Cujic with a chance of financial relief to meet day-to-day expenses during this extremely difficult time.

Thank you for your time- a donation of any amount would be deeply appreciated. If you cannot donate, please consider donating blood or becoming a bone marrow donor.