In September the Gift of Life Cancer Treatment Foundation Supported 15 People’s Fights for Their Lives and Started a Debate with the State

News 17. October 2017

In September, nearly
115,000 euros was donated to the Gift of Life cancer treatment foundation.The
foundation council approved of the funding of the treatment of 15 people, seven
of whom are receiving the foundation’s support for the first time, and the
successful treatment of the rest of the people has being going on for a while.
All in all the foundation covered more than 33,000 euros worth of medical
bills.

The need for help is
still high. There are many applications, but there are also many benefactors
and beneficiaries.

A gift of hope and a chance
 
For example, a 43-year
old family man from Tallinn is suffering from lung cancer. His three-month
treatment costs more than 17,000 euros, a quarter of which he contributes
himself and the rest is covered by the foundation.

A 51-year old man is
suffering from nasopharyngeal cancer. His three-month treatment costs more than
18,000 euros, a third of which he contributes himself.

A 49-year old mother
from Tartu is suffering from bowel cancer. Her three-month treatment costs more
than 7000 euros, a quarter of which she contributes herself and the rest is
covered by the foundation.

A 71-year old mother and
grandmother from Läänemaa is fighting bowel cancer and her two-month treatments
costs nearly 4000 euros.

Her son writes:
“Before her terrible disease, my mother was an exemplary grandmother
for her three grandchildren. They went through plenty of books and played many
games – she fulfilled all of her grandchildren’s wishes. For the children’s
delight, their granny spent all school holidays with us and sometimes even
weekends. Before the disease a half-day bus ride was tiresome for her, but she
knew how much the kids were waiting for her and still undertook the trip,
setting off from Haapsalu in the early morning and arriving in Võru in the
afternoon. Now we sadly meet only a few times a year.

We truly hope the foundation’s support proves nothing short of a miracle
and our grandmother will be cured of the disease that has ravaged her so
terribly.”

In September the
foundation continued its third year of supporting a 68-year old Tallinn
gentleman’s fight with leukaemia. His three-month treatment costs 12,000 euros.

He writes:
“I still have to admit – I am the gift of life! But what worries me is
what will become of me next, as I still have to administer my medications. But
it’s not on the Health Insurance Fund’s list of discount medications, thus its
cost is outrageous for regular people. My only hope for surviving and thriving
lies with the Gift of Life cancer treatment foundation.

I have kept the true nature of my chronic illness hidden from my family and
friends, so as to not burden them. I’m deeply grateful for the foundation’s
benefactors and my belief in good people cannot be described!”

 
A 62-year old lady from
Pärnu is going through nearly 14,000 euros’ worth of kidney cancer treatment
with the foundation’s support. She first received our aid in July.

Her life changed in
spring of last year when she was taken to Pärnu Hospital and then to Tallinn
with an ambulance due to a severe nosebleed. After thorough testing she was
diagnosed with stage four kidney cancer with several metastases.

“I’d never had kidney problems before. The news was terrible. I just
couldn’t believe it. Then the treatment began – nose surgery, radiation, kidney
removal, capsules and pills. After all this I felt good, until May this year,
when my treating physician told me that while the metastases were receding,
there was a new site. Sadly the Health Insurance Fund was unwilling to pay for
further treatment.

At this point I felt that my family and I had been left alone with this
terrible problem. I became unresponsive for several days. Thanks to support
from my family and friends I managed to see clearly again. Dr Peeter Padrik
gave me new hope and the support from the Gift of Life foundation keeps it
alive,” she wrote in July.

But in September she
added:
“Your help is priceless. After the first six rounds of treatment both
my health and well-being have significantly improved. Once again I enjoy life
among my family, children, grandchildren and friends. The Gift of Life cancer
treatment foundation, its volunteers and all the kind-hearted benefactors have
my sincere gratitude.


As I’m writing this I have tears in my eyes, but they are not tears of
pain, but of joy. Thank you for being there for us!”

Family man Alar – a shining example of a gift of life

We were especially glad
for Alar Tupp, a family man from Mustvee, who has ‘built several extra floors’
on his life.

We supported Alar’s
melanoma treatment in spring 2015 with an astounding sum – over 100,000 euros.
The foundation was still very young back then and our budget was low, but we
really wanted to help Alar and his family, whom the state had considered not
sufficiently ‘cost-effective’. Luckily, there were kind benefactors willing to
help.

Alar recently went to a
doctor for analyses and lacked ‘the signs of a disease’!
He lives his life to the
fullest, goes to work, loves his wife, cares about his daughter and enjoys
life.

Find out more here

Charitable football games

We collected donations
in several places in September, such as at the Baltic Station Market’s Night
Market event and during Buduaar’s markets. But it’s especially worth mentioning
that on 15 September a charity football game was held in Pärnu, where the
sponsor made a donation for cancer patients for every visitor and where we held
a charitable auction, where Ragnar Klavan’s FC Liverpool shirt found a new
owner.

Find out more here.

We also participated in
the Pink Football family event at the Sepa Stadium in Tartu, the summary of
which can be read here.

The Gift of Life – the most reputable charity in Estonia

On 15 September, the
Kantar Emor research agency presented a study commissioned by the SOS
Children’s Village Estonia, which showed that the Gift of Life cancer treatment
foundation was among the most reputable and well-known charities in Estonia.
According to the study, the people of Estonia see the availability of treatment
for medical conditions as the most important social problem in Estonia.

Click here
for more details.
 
Charitable restaurants

Leib Resto ja Aed (at 31
Uus Street) and Umami (at 141 Kadaka Road) are kind-hearted restaurants, as
their owners, Kristjan Peäske and Janno Lepik, decided to donate 250 euros a
month for cancer patients starting in September.

Click here
for further information.

Who should fund the treatment of people who are not ‘cost-effective’?

On 6 September Toivo
Tänavsuu, the founder of the cancer treatment foundation, published an open
letter in the Delfi online newspaper
addressed to Jevgeni Ossinovski, the Estonian Minister of Health, asking why
the state couldn’t take over the funding of treatments that work well and where
it is clear that people have increased their life by several years or have even
fully recovered.

Out of nearly 160 people
who have been helped by the foundation, at least a third have benefited
significantly from the treatment, which means they have gained one or more
extra years. 5-6 people have even been confirmed cured.

Read the letter here.

The Minister replied a
month later, stressing that Estonia is a poor country and sees additional
financing of the Health Insurance Fund as the only possible solution to the
issue of the availability of cancer treatment medications.

Read the Minister’s
reply here.

Mr Tänavsuu and Mr
Ossinovski still agreed to meet in the near future and discuss the possible
solutions with Rain Laane, the new head of the Health Insurance Fund. We will
hear about these developments in the future.

 Entrepreneur, ‘buy’ your Christmas gifts and cards this year from the
cancer treatment foundation!

The Gift of Life cancer
treatment foundation recommends that companies give up making boring and
useless gifts to their clients, partners and employees this Christmas and
instead make a donation for cancer patients. This year the companies can also
purchase charity Christmas cards and boxes of waffles from the cancer treatment
foundation.

Click here
for further information.

Want to support cancer patients with the gift of life?

On our website
you use bank links to become a regular benefactor within seconds.

Click here
for bank details.

You can sign up for our
newsletter via info@kingitudelu.ee.

We have stories to share from 2014. Stories of experiences, words of thanks and the long-term contribution of major supporters.