Michael Gerakios brain cancer fight

Michael is a well known and loved member of the Darwin Greek community. He is a loving father to his three sons Mikes, Petros and Nikitas and husband of 28 years to Cathy. Michael was a respected painter for 40 years and his biggest passion was Darwin soccer in both the junior and senior grades where he was loved by many. He coached Olympic, Hellenic, Palmerston and Port Darwin as well as several NT teams, with great success. Unfortunately Michael's life changed completely on Australia day 2015 when he was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. The specialists recommended that he have an operation to remove the tumour as well as do chemotherapy and radiation therapy which seemed to work and the tumour disappeared. In February this year we thought Michael was in the clear but unfortunately in August his condition took a turn for the worse when he was diagnosed with a second recurrent tumour on his brain stem, which is inoperable and can only be treated with chemotherapy for six months, if he survives this long. The specialists are not confident that Michael will survive and he is showing signs of severe memory loss and nerve damage, as well as suffering depression. Michael had to stop work and his beloved soccer as soon as he was diagnosed as he was too weak to continue. His wife Cathy has had to stop work to care for him and give him as much quality of life as she can. Michael is extremely distressed about the fact that he can't provide for his family any more and we are finding it hard to make ends meet. These funds would help to ease the situation and give Michael the peace of mind he needs to be able to continue to fight this horrible disease. Throughout this difficult time, any financial help would be one less worry for Michael's family as they continue to pay medical and household bills. Every prayer, every donation and every gesture of support is greatly appreciated.

With much love and thanks
The Gerakios family