All For Gavrilo

Gavrilo Djurdjevic is the grandson of a dear friend of mine in Serbia. Please take a few minutes to read Gavrilo’s story and if you can help in any way, little or large, a prayer or a share - every little helps and it will be really appreciated. 

Gavrilo is a sweet and gentle boy. He was born on September 7th 2020 in Kragujevac, Serbia. The first three months he developed as every child should, no one would have guessed that something was going wrong. Gavrilo’s parents noticed that he had stopped moving his arms and legs and was having difficulty breathing. They immediately sought professional help. It turned out, unfortunately, that he was diagnosed with the rare neuromuscular disease SMA1 (Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 1). It is an extremely severe and progressive disease that often has a fatal outcome. The disease is a consequence of a gene mutation that can cause the loss of basic life functions such as walking, digestion, swallowing and breathing. Gavrilo cannot hold his head up, sit up or crawl.

He received the first therapy (Spinraza) at the age of 5 months, which is available in Serbia. Fortunately, there has recently been an approved gene therapy (Zolgensma) that has given patients a chance to deal with this vicious disease. Thankfully, Gavrilo has a chance to receive this treatment too! The money will be used to cover medical expenses for Innovative Gene Therapy “Zolgensma”.

INNOVATIVE GENE THERAPY “ZOLGENSMA” is used for treatment of children with SMA less than two years of age; the product is an adeno-associated virus vector-based gene therapy that targets the cause of SMA. The vector delivers a fully functional copy of human SMN gene into the target motor neuron cells. A one-time intravenous administration of Zolgensma results in expression of the SMN protein in a child’s motor neurons, which improves muscle movement and function, and survival of a child with SMA). 

Due to the cost, Gavrilo’s parents are unable to afford the treatment and help their child, so they turn to all compassionate, kind and good people to help them receive the therapy he needs. Funds are needed for the gene therapy, rehabilitation, occupational therapies as well as travel expenses and accommodation. We hope that every small contribution will help us achieve our goal and our goal is that Gavrilo will be able to sit, stand, eat and hold hands and play with his big brothers .

We are all in this together and together we can change a lot. Not just for Gavrilo but for all people with SMA.

Our aim, in the UK, is to raise £100,000 to start with as the overall amount needed is €2.5million.

Please donate, share or send us a prayer in order to help Gavrilo win his battle! 

#AllForGavrilo
#ZaGavrilovuPobedu

Thank you!

Petar Ivanović