Six-year-old Marko Radulović from the village of Šume, 12 kilometers from Nikšić, is seemingly like all his peers. He loves to draw and write, to pose for the camera, and to "buy" the attention of adults with his smile. But Marko has been deaf and speechless since birth, his kidneys have failed, and he needs a cochlear implant.
This is the introduction to an article published in "Vijesti" in 2013. The health situation of Marko, who celebrated his majority at the end of October, has, unfortunately, not changed much. It's just that now Marko needs to undergo a kidney transplant, which is in very poor condition, at the "Acibadem" clinic in Turkey, and his parents have appealed to all people of good will to help them collect the necessary funds as soon as possible.
"We knew for a long time that this was coming. Marko had an implant installed in 2013 and he was one in a million cases who had an implant with a manufacturing defect, so he had to have a re-implantation the following year," Marko's mother, Ana Radulović, tells "Vijesti".
Today, Marko can partially hear and speak in a way that is familiar to him and those closest to him. He continues to charm with his smile, and regularly wins medals at the Special Olympics, which make him and his parents, who have two other children, proud.
"Marko needs to have a preemptive transplant and if he doesn't do it by mid-June, he will have to start dialysis in August, and he wouldn't be able to do that due to his general health condition. It is precisely because of his condition that we want to go to Turkey, to have the transplant done as soon as possible so that he can live a normal life, to some extent," explains Ana.
Marko will graduate in a few days and will receive his chef's diploma. His mother is full of praise for Marko's personal assistant, as well as for the staff of the Secondary School of Economics and Catering, but also for the doctors who have been taking care of her son's health for years. Father Zoran decided to give Marko the greatest gift at the end of his graduation – his kidney.
"We are truly grateful to all the people who are contacting us for help. As soon as our appeal spread on social networks, people started calling us, various organizations are contacting us, a charity concert is being organized for the weekend, and somehow I believe that we will manage to raise the necessary funds and go to Turkey. We have already started collecting paperwork so that we can get an appointment before the holidays, because every day is important to us," said Ana Radulović.
To help Marko, Nikšić musicians and DJs will organize a charity concert on Sunday, May 18th, at Trg Slobode. The concert "Everyone a Little for Marko" will start at 10 am and last until 15 pm.
Marko was, unfortunately, “doomed” to health problems from birth. His small intestine ruptured at birth, so he spent the first day of his life in the operating room, and then, after four months of recovery in the neonatology department at the Clinical Hospital Center Podgorica, he had to have another operation. At birth, he was deprived of oxygen, which caused his kidneys to stop working for five days, and he developed chronic kidney failure.
The Radulovićs need a minimum of 30 thousand euros. Anyone who wants and can help Marko Radulović can make a payment in his name to the bank account at CKB Bank: 510000000130160169, IBAN ME 25510000000130160169.
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