15 years together

Our story began even before the official decision of the then Central State Office for Administration of the Republic of Croatia, which we symbolically received on Valentine’s Day in 2007. It began with one letter and one simple but sincere and great desire – the desire for life, from which came the idea and vision that the Foundation has been following for 15 years.
Ana sent a letter from her hospital room to her friend Nataša. The letter triggered an avalanche of aid in a few hours that is still rolling today.
Ana tried to raise funds for possible treatment in the USA, but she was aware that this might not happen, so she worked with her family, mother Marija and sister Gordana, and the department doctor prof.dr.sc. Mirando Mrsić agreed that if she did not need treatment in the USA, she would help the development of the Croatian Bone Marrow Donor Registry, which at the time had a modest 156 members, and help establish a Public Cord Blood Bank which carries her name today.
Unfortunately, Ana left us too early on November 26, 2006, and her family, friends, colleagues, but also strangers, whom she touched with her desire for life, but also for the lives of others in a similar situation, organized the first concert “I want life“ 12/21/2006 on Ban J. Jelačić Square, which Ana herself planned as a thank you to everyone who got involved and donated funds for her treatment.
Nataša F., Mirta, Tonči, Tome, Medo, Maruška, Jelena, Marija, Karlo, Marina, Nataša Z., Branimira, Iva, Esma, Lana, Dr. Mrsić, Igor, Snježana, Fran, Filip, Sanja, Ida, Kristina, Ana, Manda, Ana-Marija, Vjesnik, Croatian Association of Leukemia and Lymphoma, Millennium Promotion, fellow journalists – rivers of volunteers and companies that got involved and helped make Ana’s wish come true.
Thanks to the great desire and vision of our Ana and selfless people who decided to give a piece of themselves to help those who need it most, 147 sick people were given a new chance at life.
Thank you for your selfless support from the very beginning of our work, thank you to everyone who helped the work of the Foundation in any way, thank you to all of you who organized the actions, to all of you who entered the Croatian Bone Marrow Donor Registry and donated umbilical cord blood stem cell – you increase the chance of healing sick people around the world, and the biggest thanks to 147 hematopoietic stem cell donors who donated a part of themselves to strangers to give them hope for life.