Anton Buslov, a journalist and former astrophysicist from Russia is no Walter White. The 29-year-old was diagnosed a few years ago with Hodgkins Lymphoma a few years ago, and was devastated to find out that his home country offered little hope.

He writes, “We have excellent doctors in Russia, but they are not just fighting disease; they battle bureaucracy, insufficient resources and primitive technologies, as well. In some clinics in Russia they still have the idea of washing a disposable syringe for a second use. In Moscow I was receiving chemotherapy in a center with 30 beds, through which went 250 patients a day and it had only one nurse and one toilet for the lot.”

In 2011, he was given 18 months to live, and doctors told him to go home and prepare to die. But, at 29, he simply wasn’t ready. He went ahead and married his long time girlfriend, and they tried to start a family together, despite his grim prognosis. However, he didn’t just throw in the towel. He continued to research.

He told the Huffington Post, “I did my research and found out who could treat me. And then they showed me the price tag. $150,000! I walked in circles for two days, slapping my forehead. … $150,000. How do you find it? And then I thought, you ask for $5. And you ask 30,000 people.”

He raised the money, and got treatment. But it wasn’t enough. The cancer fought back, and now, the outlook is even more dim, and will cost even more money. He requires a bone marrow transplant, an enormously expensive process not covered by insurance.

Anton’s sister, a 26-year-old graduate student in mathematics who speaks five languages, has muscular dystrophy that confines her to a wheelchair, and is a perfect match for the transplant that Anton requires to live. That transplant could save his life, if Anton can raise the money for the operation, which typically runs from $300,000 to $900,000. His doctors conceded that this process is usually only available to patients with wealth.

Now Buslov has turned to popular “crowd funding” site Give Forward. He realizes that he is asking money from people that he will never be able to pay, but he writes,“I have hope and I have determination. Most of all I have tens of thousands of friends and a belief that there are even more good people who will befriend me in my time of need.”

As of this writing, he has only raised 9% of the money he needs.

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