When Filip Kwansky was only two years old, he lost his mother to an aggressive form of cancer. Filip and his dad, Piotr, buried her in their home village of Wadowice, Poland. Father and son tried to pick up the pieces and moved to the UK for a fresh start. Little did they know, their trials were far from over.
Shortly after the little family moved to England, Filip was diagnosed with with neurofibromatosis. Thankfully, an aggressive round of chemo sent the cancer into remission. All was well with Filip and he even started primary school, but days after his seventh birthday he received devastating news. The cancer was back, and this time with a vengeance.
Filip’s body had developed juvenile myelomonocytic leukaemia (JMML) – an accumulation of abnormal blood cells in the bone marrow – and doctors were not hopeful for his future.
Two separate rounds of chemo failed to wrestle the cancer into submission. As the cancer crept into Filips large and small intestines, doctors broke the terrible news to Piotr and his son… he would not live to see another year.
Devastated, Piotr began to make arrangements for his son’s funeral. It was during one of these quiet days sitting in the hospital room that Filip piped up with a question that gave his father hope for the first time. Piotr explained ‘He says that I’m his angel that is looking after him here and that his mum will look after him when he is in heaven. He asked to be buried with his mother in Poland so she can take care of him in heaven.”
The Kwansky’s did have the funds to temporarily raise his wife’s coffin from the ground or purchase the airfare needed to transport his son to Poland. But this my friends, is where the story takes a turn for the better. A friend started a crowdfunding campaign for them.
In less than 4 months, the world came together and donated an astonishing 369% of the Kwansky’s crowdfunding goal, raising nearly £24,000 to fulfill Filip’s last wish. More than half of those donations were made in the last week alone!
We can’t imagine a sweeter ending to this tragic story. He will leave this earth feeling so cared for by friends, family, and even strangers.
Share with everyone you know. Let’s bless this little family as much as we can.
