Man fighting incurable cancer has his wheelchair stolen: 'It's very disappointing'

A man with an incurable cancer is raising money after his wheelchair and mobility aid were stolen.

Five years ago, Adam Razska thought his life was “just beginning”. The then-31-year-old had recently tied the knot with his fiancé Dorota – and the pair were looking forward to decades of “adventures” ahead.

But in 2020, Razska found a painful cyst on his groin. The cyst was not cancerous, but during scans doctors found a rare and aggressive type of cancer. The disease is terminal.

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“My cancer has a 15% survival rate for five years, so at the time of diagnosis, I really didn’t think I would still be here,” he told the Big Issue. “Now it’s been nearly five years, so I am part of that minority. But it is incurable, so we are delaying the inevitable.”

Sarcoma refers to a group of rare cancers which affects the tissues connecting the organs. Every year, there around 4,630 people in the UK are diagnosed with soft tissue sarcomas.

Sarcoma UK describe it as one of the “loneliest cancers”; with more than 100 different subtypes, people “often share that they never meet someone with their subtype of sarcoma”.

To fight the diagnosis, Razska has undergone multiple rounds of chemotherapy. The treatment has exacted a brutal toll on his body; but the Birmingham local “counts every day as a win”.

“I consider myself lucky… I’m happy that I still am here,” he told the Big Issue. “And when I got my wheelchair I could move around, it has allowed me to go out and enjoy little things in life again.”

A cruel theft has robbed him of this freedom. On Saturday (8 February), Raszka visited the city centre to check out the Chinese New Year with his wife. His wheelchair and walker were stolen from the car park.

“I get a taxi and then use the walker or wheelchair when I got out, or to get to many of my chemotherapy rounds or doctor appointments,” he said. “So it’s very disappointing.”

To get an NHS wheelchair, you need a referral to your local wheelchair service. The process can take up to six weeks, and recipients have to wait a further few weeks to months for the wheelchair to arrive.

Raszka is “very grateful” for the care he has received from the NHS and hospice providers. His first wheelchair was provided by Birmingham Hospice – and Raszka can’t bring himself to tell them that it’s lost. Instead, he’s raising money to replace them and buy additional locks.

Wheelchairs range in price from £150 to more than £1,000; so far, the crowdfunder has generated more than £300. Raszka is planning to put any leftover money aside to help pay for his funeral.

“It’s really weighing on me, I don’t want my wife to need to deal with it when I’m gone, she really doesn’t deserve that,” he added. “She has been so supportive through everything.”  

Across the UK, high funeral costs compound grief for bereaved families. The average cost of a UK funeral in 2023 was £4,141, an increase of 4.7% on the year before. Meanwhile, 90,000 people die in poverty every single year, according to end-of-life charity Marie Curie.

It’s a bleak statistic. But Razska said that him and his wife have “had time to consider these things”. And for now, he’s focusing on enjoying the time he has.

In 2022, he completed a charity motorbike ride in Ireland and late last year he visited Morocco, “managing some short distances” without the mobility scooter.  

Razska urges people to “live in the moment”.

“If I could say one thing… it’s don’t wait until you get you get more money, until there is a better time– that might not happen. Just enjoy life while you can.”

You can find Razska’s crowdfunder here.

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