This year, nine-year-old Luka Bajić from Chicago became the youngest karate master and black belt holder in America and in the entire world! And just a few years earlier, doctors gave Luka only a 1% chance of surviving a severe form of cancer he had developed.
Luka’s story is a story of love, faith, willpower, energy, and a miracle that happened at the Monastery of St. Sava in Libertyville. His father, Predrag Bajić, speaks about all of this. He is a former Serbian national team member and the youngest karate practitioner ever to earn a black belt in Serbia, at the age of 11, which shows that the apple never falls far from the tree…
“Luka is the third child I had in my marriage with my wife, a Filipina. He was born in Chicago in 2015 and spent the first months of his life like all other babies and children. And then, before he was even a year old, shortly after he started walking, one day out of nowhere he fell and collapsed. We took him for a scan and the doctors found a 10-centimeter-long cancer in his abdomen, a neuroblastoma that was wrapped around all his internal organs. The medical board gave him a 1% chance of survival,” Predrag Bajić says at the beginning of his testimony for Serbian Times.
DOCTORS GAVE HIM MINIMAL CHANCES TO SURVIVE: Luka Bajić
It is difficult, he says, to describe what a parent feels in such moments…
“Despite the shock we experienced, we did not give up; we focused on him, his therapies, and the results. His upper blood pressure was constantly around 200, and he spent his days at Lurie Hospital in intensive care. Father Aca Petrović from the Church of St. Stephen came to baptize him in the hospital, and when he lit the oil lamp, he set off the fire alarms… There were moments that lifted our spirits and gave us hope.”
Then the same priest, Father Aca, suggested that they bring Luka to the Monastery of St. Sava in Libertyville, where the arrival of the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos of Hawaii had been announced. Bishop Longin and the clergy decided to organize a special liturgy and prayer for Luka…
“Although I believe in God, until that day I was not a great believer. And then a miracle happened… The bishop served the prayer together with several priests. They placed Luka and me in the middle of the monastery, in front of the altar, and the bishop lifted the icon above us. I cannot describe in words the kind of energy I felt then, how I trembled together with Luka, who was in my arms,” Predrag recalls.
A MIRACLE AT THE MONASTERY OF ST. SAVA: Liturgy and prayer for Luka’s healing
From that day on, everything started to improve…
“Luka had four surgeries, one of which lasted as long as 13 hours, during which all his organs were removed, but he was on his feet very quickly after that operation. Then he had six cycles of chemotherapy, after which children are usually exhausted, and he went through all of it with a smile, getting up, walking, playing, showing incredible energy for a seriously ill boy.”
ALWAYS SMILING: Luka Bajić at Lurie Hospital in Chicago
“On one occasion they missed his vein and hit an artery, and he suffered severe bleeding. That is a situation in which, according to doctors, one out of a thousand survives, and Luka was that one. And so, over time, his recovery happened…”
Since Luka’s kidneys failed at one point during treatment, doctors did not recommend any sports at an early age. Nevertheless, before turning six, he followed in his father’s footsteps.
FOLLOWING IN HIS FATHER’S FOOTSTEPS: Thanks to discipline, Luka became the youngest black belt holder
“Probably because he was used to fighting his whole life, Luka was the same in sports. Persistent and hardworking, he trained five to six days a week and was extremely disciplined. At every karate belt exam, he received two belts, and in the end, at the age of nine, he became the youngest karate master in America and, together with a girl from Japan, the youngest in the world. He was promoted to the master rank by our renowned karate master Vladimir Jorga, who was also my teacher and who came especially from Serbia for that occasion,” the proud father says about his little champion.
In the meantime, Luka has been a four-time U.S. champion in fights and kata in Olympic WKF karate and a three-time winner of the U.S. Open Championship.
“Last year he was named the best karate practitioner in the United States, and he will probably receive that recognition again this year. However, he constantly dreams of one day competing for the Serbian national team. He keeps asking me when he will be able to fight for Serbia, and after every victory he raises three fingers! He trains at the largest club in the world, Illinois Shotokan Karate Clubs, where I am also a coach and which has over 6,000 members,” Predrag says, adding that after countless karate victories, Luka nevertheless won the most important one in his fight against illness:
THE MOST IMPORTANT BATTLE HAS BEEN WON! And now on to new victories, with three fingers raised and under the Serbian flag
“Luka regularly goes for checkups, and the results show that the disease has been in remission for eight years and that the cancer has withdrawn. And practice shows that if it does not return within five years, it usually never returns. Luka is now 10 years old and it can be said that he is cancer-free. I hope that Luka’s and our story will be inspiring for other children and their parents who may have similar problems and trials in life. If there is any moral in our story, it would be: Never give up, believe, and fight!” Predrag Bajić, the father of the small but great champion Luka Bajić, said at the end of the interview for Serbian Times.
THE HAWAIIAN THEOTOKOS: Luka kissing the icon that changed his life
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