Battle of Kosare hero's son gets surgery thanks to donation from Vucic: "It's like I was born again"

Lazar Milutinovic (28), the son of a Battle of Kosare hero, NCO Vladan Milutinovic - a Jagodina native who died suddenly in 2015 from a brain aneurysm - has been suffering from cerebral palsy since birth.

The surgery required a large sum of money, which is why a humanitarian campaing was launched.

However, after media coverage, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic immediately promised Lazar that he would personally take over the costs of the operation, as well as his subsequent rehabilitation.

After less than two months, Lazar underwent surgery at Tirsova, and, according to Doctor Dmitry Popkov, a Russian orthopedic surgery specialist, the surgery was 100 percent successful.

As announced, President Vucic will soon visit Lazar.

"The surgery means good life for me. It’s like I was born again at the age of 28. I can imagine all the things I'll be able to do once I stand on my own feet," Lazar is overjoyed.

Lazar (left) is seen with his late father Vladan/ Private archive/63padobranska.com

Veterans of Association of the 63rd Parachute Brigade first started raising the funds for the operation, followed by a series of humanitarian campaigns - but 7,000 more euros were still needed.

Lazar says that he was very excited before the surgery, and when he woke up from anesthesia and saw that his legs were straightened, he was in tears of joy.

"The doctor extended my thigh muscles and straightened my feet. Admittedly, surgery is not a magic wand, so after the rehabilitation, I will have to exercise a lot. It won't be difficult for me, because the doctor decided to operate and because I exercised a lot. In addition, the price of the operation has been reduced from 30,000 to 12,000 euros," Lazar says.

Lazar was born prematurely as a healthy child, after which he spent three months in a hospital incubator. At the end of the third month, the incubator broke down and Lazar was left without oxygen, causing damage to his central nervous system. The parents were told that his condition was very bad and that he would not live long.

From then on, his entire life, Lazar has undergone treatments and rehabilitation using all options at his disposal, at the expense of his family and without much help from the outside. He is currently suffering from deformity of both feet, contraction of knee joints and dislocation of both knee caps. Because of all this, Lazar moves with difficulty and suffers from severe and frequent pain in his knees and feet.

Photo: Tanjug/Dragan Kujundzic

He graduated from an economics high school as a class favorite, an extremely intelligent, communicative and friendly person. He exercises regularly and is very persistent, and has made tremendous progress in his fight against a serious illness - but that was not enough.

Lazar needs frequent treatment to be like all his friends. Now, for the first time, he had a doctor's proposal for a series of orthopedic surgeries that would allow him to walk independently and live a normal life. To finally stand on his own, healthy feet.

Professor Doctor Dimitry Popkov, a top Russian orthopedic specialit, examined Lazar in January and suggested to perform the operation in Belgrade.

The surgeries are aimed at extending thigh muscles, stabilizing both knee caps and correcting both feet. Unfortunately, the Serbian health insurance fund does not cover the costs of such procedures and the ATLAS hospital costs, so it was necessary to collect a sum of 12,000 euros for Lazar's surgery and treatment.

(Telegraph.rs)