Lukasz Klosowski carries in his small, frail frame the same unbridled spunk as his fictitious, red-haired hero.

The terminally ill teen from Poland, who is ending his dream eight-day trip in Atlantic Canada today with a much-anticipated visit to Green Gables House, can relate to Anne’s fighting spirit.

“This story Lukasz has in his heart because she (Anne) was very good — when something goes wrong, she can do something with it,’’ an interpreter said.

“If you want, you can win.’’

The debilitating effects of spinal muscular atrophy fail to inject even a hint of defeat in the feisty 15-year-old Lukasz. His high-pitched giggle is infectious and constant. He has the wide eyes and excitable tone of a youngster who simply can’t wait to dive into that next adventure.

He has had his share of thrills over the past week, journeying with an interesting mix of travelling companions that include his mom, a nurse, and Angelika Olwert — a pretty 17-year-old with a terminal case of cystic fibrosis.

“He likes everything,’’ said his interpreter.

“Everything that Lukasz does, it’s for the first time: first plane, first ferry, first time being on the beach, (first time) visiting a hotel.’’

Lukasz and Angelika both wanted to see the Atlantic Ocean, get a taste of school life, and soak up some of the region’s culture. Their wish was granted through a Halifax-based non-profit group, called Coalition for Kids International, which organized the major outing in partnership with a Polish charity.

Lukasz found great pleasure in simple encounters, like meeting up with his first lobster.

“He likes lobster, but alive,’’ said the interpreter.

“He says that they are very beautiful and it’s a shame to eat them.’’

Angelika, who towers above her travel mate, did not know Lukasz before their dream trip took flight.

“We like each other very much and we are very happy to be together because Lukasz is wonderful,’’ Angelika said through the interpreter.

“It’s like a beautiful dream which shouldn’t finish but I know that it finishes (today).’’

For Angelika, the trip has been made particular special by the kindness of strangers.

“The people are very nice for us and very helpful,’’ she said through the interpreter.

“Many people surprised us with small presents.’’

 

New Glasgow News, Canada - 8 Jun 2007
Living a Dream

Cait McIntyre
The News

Hanna Klosowski has noticed a change in her son since they arrived in the Maritimes.

"Before our trip, his doctor said 'he hasn't got many years left,'" she said through a translator. "Now his condition seems better. He feels better physically and psychologically," she said.

Her 15-year-old son, Lukasz Klosowski, has spinal muscular atrophy and has to be on a respirator for five hours a day. But since arriving here on Monday, she said her son has only used his respirator "for exercise." Moreover, she said his pulse has been higher than usual, above 90.

She believes her son is feeling better, put simply, because "he is happy." Her son, she said, is living out his dream.

"I'm very happy. This is a dream come true," said Lukasz with the help of a translator. "Most of my time in Poland is spent at home or in hospitals."

Lukasz and 17-year-old Angelika Olwert are two terminally ill Polish teens who shared a common dream: to tour the Maritimes. The pair, along with their moms, a nurse and a translator, will tour the region for eight days. The trip was made possible thanks to the Halifax-based group Coalition for Kids International, working in collaboration with a Polish charity. The charity, in turn, helps about 200 youths visit their dream destinations every year.

The teens arrived in Halifax early this week, where they visited Queen Elizabeth High School. Spending an afternoon attending drama classes and dissecting frogs may not seem like anything extraordinary to most teens, but for Lukasz and Angelika, who are both homeschooled, the chance to hang out with students for a day at a regular high school was very special indeed.

"I wanted to go far away from Poland and see another culture," said Angelika, with the help of her translator. "I wanted to meet teens here and see their normal life."

On Thursday they arrived in New Glasgow, and spent the evening as guests at Bruce Thompson's family cottage at Melmerby Beach. Lukasz sat outside facing the ocean. He seemed very content.

There was rarely a moment he wasn't smiling or laughing.

It didn't go unnoticed. "Did you hear him laugh yet? You have to. It's like he's singing," commented one onlooker.

Angelika, meanwhile, was showing off a new look. The pretty teen, who suffers with cystic fibrosis, had just gotten a makeover. Lukasz stopped smiling and giggling just long enough to comment on how he wants to see as much as possible on this trip. He can't wait to see the Anne of Green Gables house in Prince Edward Island, especially.

As he carried out food trays for the group outside, Bruce Thompson said he was honoured to play host to the teens at his family's cottage.

"Just seeing how happy they are is the best part," he said.

 

Advocate Publishing, Canada - 13 Jun 2007
Polish teens find our water fine

Happiness was never so cherished, or sincere.
Bubbly giggles, followed by charges of laughter, erupted last Thursday evening at the home of Bruce Thompson near Melmerby beach.

Thompson, President of the Cystic Fibrosis Nova Scotia Chapter, played host to some remarkably special guests whose stories redefine the meaning of gratitude.

Lukasz Klosowski, 15, and Angelika Olwert, 17, both from Poland, were touring Atlantic Canada for the first time. Their voyage had many stops along the way, beginning last Monday and ending Tuesday of this week.

What is extraordinary about the two is their affiliation with the Halifax-based organization, ‘Coalition for Kids International,’ a non-profit children’s organization, and to the Polish organization ‘Children’s Fantasies Fulfilled,’ a Polish charitable foundation that grants wishes for terminally ill children.

Lukasz, the handsome young man who attracts constant admirers, suffers from spinal muscular atrophy, a disease leaving him unable to support his 37-pound body. For him, the disease has most harshly affected the muscles in his legs and back.

And Angelika, a stunning blonde and independent girl referred to as “princess and chief” by translator Patricia Wrobel, has cystic fibrosis, which is currently attacking her lungs and digestive system.

The two spend most of their time confined in Polish hospitals, and must receive independent lessons for schooling.

So for them, leaving this reality far behind on this evening, and breathing in fresh salt air, is in itself, a miracle.

Anything else is an added blessing because, after all, by Polish standards the two are not expected to outlive their short teenage years.

Angelika proudly displays a rock in the shape of a heart she found on the beach, rubs its surface repeatedly, and adds it to her collection of shells. She climbs the rocks piled on the beach, and sits contentedly.

Lukasz, on the other hand, is not content to take quiet time, and his constant jabber is infectious.

“I’m driving,” he responds, when jokingly offered a beer.
Curiosity and happiness, says his mother Hanna, have been his constant companion while on this trip.

Lukasz has not once had to use his respirator for a low pulse all week, his mother says with a twinkle in her eyes, as she runs her fingers through his hair.

And Angelika, who like every 17-year-old girl enjoys spending time with friends, has especially enjoyed interacting with teens her age. She and Lukasz experienced a typical Canadian school day at Queen Elizabeth High School last Wednesday.
Her mother, Marzanna, says she is most energetic at these times.

What seems like normalities to the average person, is translating into unprecedented joy for Angelika and Lukasz.

“Oh geez, they’re just like any other kid,” host Thompson said. “Look them right in the eyes and look at how much fun that they’re having. They just want what everybody else does.”

Thompson presented the kids a traditional Pictou County evening. The stereo on the cottage deck played loud music, and trays of food littered the table. A Frisbee was thrown on the beach, and toes even dipped in the water.

As the sun began its descent, people had dispersed.

Lukasz, wrapped snug in a blanket to combat the cooling temperature, was laughing at translator Wrobel, who was dancing about to a song on the stereo.

And Angelika had since taken off to the beach, where she wished she could stay all night long.

“Now it’s a dream, but it finishes Tuesday,” she had said earlier in the evening, with the help of her translator.

As Angelika walks toward the sunset, her heart rock in tow, one wonders what she must be thinking.

The future, for both Angelika and Lukasz, contains many uncertainties.

But what is certain is the impact the pair has left on the hearts of special Atlantic Canadians who’ve met them.

It goes without saying that the memories they shared here, will be forever remembered here, wherever they may be.

 

The Chronicle Herald, Halifax, Canada  - 24 June 2007
'Like living a fairy tale’

Joel Jacobson
Great Kids

‘LUKASZ KLOSOWKI has a high-pitched, excitable voice. He laughs a lot.

Yet when you see this 15-year-old Polish boy in a wheelchair, his body racked with a type of muscular dystrophy that allows organs to grow normally while the shell remains the same, you wonder how he can be so happy.

Then you talk to him, through a translator, although his few words of heavily accented English are more than can be mustered by a journalist five times his age.

"Every day I spent here was fantastic," he squeals with passion about the six days he has been in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. "It was like living a fairy tale.

"Weighing only 44 pounds and unable to move from his chair, Lukasz has lived anything but a fairy tale in his short life. Lukasz comes from poor surroundings. This is his first time outside Poland for him and his mother, Hanna.

His trip to Canada was sponsored by Coalition for Kids, an organization based in Poland that enables terminally ill children to fulfil a dream. Accompanying Lukasz, 17-year-old Angelika Olwert and their mothers, were nurse and translator Patricia Wrobel, also the director of the Polish wish organization, and Neil Harvey, the right-hand man for the coalition founders, English-born Garry Oliver and his life partner, Polish-born Kamila Rybicka.

During his trip, which ended June 12, Lukasz sat on a Harley Davidson, lay on the bed in Anne Shirley’s cottage at Cavendish ("The lady there told me this was an exception especially for me"), rode the Harbour Hopper and spent time with students at Queen Elizabeth High School.

"The kids at QE were very nice," he says. "I like the way they teach here where everyone can choose what classes they want and meet different kids in different classes. At home, we’re always with the same class all year.

"Angelika, a pretty blond who has cystic fibrosis, requested the trip to Nova Scotia, as did Lukasz, wishing to see and touch the ocean and experience a different country.

With experiences like shopping, bowling, walking on sandy beaches, riding on the back of the Harley, enjoying a barbecue and making new friends, Angelika surprisingly liked school best.

"I was able to cut up a frog (in biology class at QEH). In Poland, I study biology and chemistry but you have to be in university to cut a frog.

"Angelika drove a motorboat and an all-terrain vehicle in Pictou County. "That’s something I’ve never done," she says through translator Patricia. "I was covered in mud — and loved it.

"She saw a sunset and sunrise on Northumberland Strait and walked on the sandy beach. "There are lots of big shells here," she says.

Her mother, Marzanna, standing beside Angelika, calls the trip "super, a revelation."

"She enjoyed the barbecue but says everyone here seems to eat a lot. People are much bigger here than in Poland.

"Four QEH students spent considerable time with the Polish young people, part of Garry and Kamila’s plan to match healthy Canadian kids with the ill Poles and show the Canadians how good life is for them.

Olivia Mahtab got her friends organized — Jan Nason, Jeff Archibald and Kris Boudreau — after meeting Gary and Kamila at a casual dinner and wondering how she could help.

"Angelika and Lukasz never let us feel sorry for them," she says. "They made every minute we were together enjoyable.

"Jan adds: "They are so positive about life, even though they have terminal illnesses. It certainly makes you appreciate what you have.

"Kris thought dealing with the Polish youngsters might be awkward, but as adults watched them all interact with laughs and gestures at a last-day reception, even with the language barrier, it was obvious there was a comfort zone.

"We spoke a bit slower, but with the translator we were OK," says Kris. "I’d certainly do this again. It was a lot of fun. Being with them at the barbecue gave us a chance to chill and be normal without a lot of other people around.

"Olivia’s parents, John and Susan, note their daughter has changed during her week with the Poles. "It’s not all about their world anymore," says Susan. "Olivia and the others realize there are people much less fortunate. It’s amazing the impact Angelika and Lukasz had on all the QE students, not just these four.

"John continues. "Our kids have seen Angelika and Lukasz as new friends but realize they have bigger challenges.

"Yet "challenge" seems to be a forbidden word for Angelika and Lukasz. They mingle easily with adults and children, and chatter happily about their experience.

"It won’t be difficult (going home)," says Lukasz, when asked if he’ll miss the good time he’s had. "I can tell my friends about it. And until the end of my life, I will never forget this wonderful trip.".

Housewife Magazine, Poland, July 2007

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