Supporters donate almost $20,000 in less than a week

A young teen who miraculously survived a rare and aggressive form of leukemia after several years of chemo which cost his family their home, has been tragically struck down again.

Family, friends and community members have rallied around 15 year-old Gabe as he battles cancer for the second time.

A young teen who miraculously survived cancer after three-and-a-half years of chemotherapy which cost his family their home, has been tragically struck down again.

At just eight years old in 2017, Gabe was diagnosed with an uncommon and aggressive leukemia.

Gabe’s parents were forced to sell their house to pay to treat his T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which creates too many abnormal T-cells in the bone marrow and makes it harder to fight infections.

The intensive treatment took a severe toll on his body, even preventing him from walking for a period of time because of nerve damage in the feet and legs.

Eventually, in a miraculous and joyful moment, he was declared cancer-free and he was back on his feet.

The homeschooled teen who dreams of owning a burger wan with his big brother was living a normal life until two weeks ago, when he began struggling to walk.

After several trips back and forth to Rockhampton Hospital, he was flown down to Queensland Children’s Hospital in Brisbane and the horrific news was broken - his cancer was back, and this time it was attacking his spine.

Gabe’s parents learnt he would require chemotherapy and radiation therapy immediately, meaning they had to stop work and travel the eight hours south to accompany their son.

But the Central Queensland community and people elsewhere have rallied behind the family after Gabe’s aunt Jackie Juricev organised a $20,000 GoFundMe fundraiser, raising almost the entire amount in less than a week.

“It’s lifted the family’s spirits – seeing people’s generosity is really heartwarming,” she said.

The sheer amount of donations is huge, with one anonymous individual donating a whopping $5000.

Gabe’s GoFundMe page is currently sitting at $19,775 from 119 donations.

Jackie said Gabe’s family are familiar faces in Yeppoon and Rockhampton.

“(Gabe’s parents) are part of the community… they’re well recognised at the places where they work,” she said.

Gabe’s mum Kathy has a business as a floral artist and his dad is a casual barista at Gus’ Coffee.
Like any young teenager, Gabe is full of hopes and dreams for the future.
“He wants to open a burger restaurant with his brother... he loves his flavours, cooking, all that sort of stuff,” Jackie said.

“It’s a very ‘boy’ sort of thing.”

Jackie said Gabe and his brother Zeke, who she describes as joined at the hip, “love it”.
“They don’t do anything without each other... the first time Gabe went into treatment, Zeke was there the whole time,” she said.

“As boring and as mundane as that is for a ‘well’ child to do that, he did it because he just couldn’t be without him.”
Gabe has selfless love for all of his siblings, and saved his Make-A-Wish from his first cancer battle until January this year so he could be well enough to properly enjoy it.

“Obviously, he’s fallen short with that and we don’t know what’s going to happen,” Jackie said.

“He wanted to do something where he could do theme parks with his brothers and sisters and travel a little bit.

“He really loved the idea of a cruise.”
Despite his incredibly difficult situation, Gabe’s aunty has described how he is showing resilience and positivity beyond his years.
“I think he’s trying to focus and be positive and believe that he will be well,” she said.

“That’s his biggest hope at the moment - looking towards recovery.”

Originally published as Supporters donate almost $20,000 in less than a week