GoFundMe set up as charity hero's son diagnosed with brain tumour

Bart, who is originally from Poland, lives in Copeland and works for the NHS.

His friend and colleague, Elaine Hurst, works in management for a local GP Practice and has set up a GoFundMe to raise money for his son's treatment. 

Bart worked as a North West Ambulance Service home-visiting paramedic full-time before moving into a practice-based primary care setting.

Whilst working full-time, Bart coordinated with a network of friends and family, to send a humanitarian convoy to Ukraine. 

He raised thousands of pounds and arranged truckloads of urgently needed supplies.

However, tragedy struck the Copeland charity hero as his son Konstanty became unwell. Konstanty, who is just 13, became unwell a few weeks ago with vomiting. He started to have a problem with his balance.

Shortly after blood tests, CT and MRI scans, they found a brain tumour the size of a golf ball in the worst possible area of the brain - the brain stem.

He was diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, an aggressive brain tumour that is extremely hard to treat. It is inoperable due to the position on his brain. 

Konstanty has now started on radiotherapy. 

All of this has happened in only five weeks. Currently, Konstanty is on a clinical trial. He is treated with high doses of steroids and other medicines to decrease the pressure in his head. This is all in the hopes it will extend Konstanty's life.

There are seven known methods of treating DIPG in the world. Unfortunately, all treatments are trials that are only to prolong the lives of children. 

Konstanty with his father, Bart before he fell ill (Image: Newsquest)

Konstanty remains in Warsaw hospital, and Bart continues to commute to and from Warsaw from his home in Whitehaven. 

Elain spoke about why she decided to set up the fundraising page. She said: "Whilst Konstanty's treatment in Warsaw is all paid for, the cost for specialist consulting fees from different countries globally is not free. It can range between £400 to £2,500 per initial consultation.

"I seen what Bart has done for all the poor families in Ukraine and how he has helped hundreds of patients in our local area."

"He would do anything for anyone who is experiencing turbulent times. Bart has never asked for anything in return when doing things for others."

The GoFundMe page has raised £4,435 of its £5,000 goal aat the time of writing. Elaine spoke about the response, she said: "I am totally overwhelmed by every single person who has donated in this period of cost of living crisis."

"I’m delighted that this huge amount of kind donations reflects how much Bart is thought of, and appreciated by us all in Copeland and even further afield."

Bart declined Elaine's offer to help at first, but when he told her how much the consultations were, she told Bart her plans.

Elaine told him to accept it for Konstanty, she said: "I knew if I told Bart the fund raising was for Konstanty and he had to accept it on Konstanty's behalf, it would be the only way he would accept the support.

"Bart is totally overwhelmed by the total we have collected for Konstanty's ongoing care. In fact for the first time, he is pretty speechless and that doesn’t happen very often.

"Bart understands the prognosis is poor for Konstanty, but typically Bart, thinking of others, he has made a very specific request that anything that has been raised, should the worst happen, benefit others in need.

"He has requested that two local charities MacMillan & Great North Air Ambulance have the remaining funds split between them."

You can donate to the page here.

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