18 years of the Ana Rukavina Foundation

Love multiplies through sharing, and thanks to almost 66 thousand potential donors of hematopoietic stem cells who have joined the Croatian Bone Marrow Donor Registry since the beginning of the Ana Rukavina Foundation exactly 18 years ago to help strangers, people who need a hematopoietic stem cell transplant for their recovery, we have become convinced of the truth of this saying.
A little over 18 years ago, on one letter, and on one simple, but sincere and great wish – the wish for life, the idea and vision that the Foundation has been following for 18 years, emerged, and on Valentine’s Day 2007, we officially began our work.
With the wish for life, but also for the life of all who found themselves in a similar, difficult, and uncertain situation, Ana sent a message that became our mission.
Thanks to the great desire and vision of our Ana and selfless people who decided to give a part of themselves to help those who need it most, 185 sick people were given a new chance at life.
On Ana’s birthday, March 28, 2007, the Foundation helped establish the first Public Cord Blood Bank at the University Hospital Centre Zagreb, which today bears her name.
Guided by the desire to provide patients with the highest quality medical care in their homeland, the Ana Rukavina Foundation announced in July 2014 the first public tender for the allocation of funds for the professional training of doctors in the field of hematology and other related specializations, and to date, ten young doctors and one nurse have been given the opportunity to train at the best clinics in the world and Europe.
Thank you for your selfless support from the very beginning of our work, thank you to everyone who has helped the Foundation in any way, and thank you to all of you who, by registering in the Croatian Registry and donating cord blood stem cells, increase the chance of recovery for sick people around the world. The biggest thank you to the 185 donors of hematopoietic stem cells who donated a part of themselves to unknown people to give them hope for recovery.