Fighting for Hearts

Video By Max Becherer

2015 - Syracuse

Srdan Lukic was born in the former Yugoslavia with a heart defect. He had to wait until the end of the civil war in his native land to travel to Syracuse with the help of UNISEF to undergo surgery and remained in the United States after the surgeries. Children who have undergone heart surgery are not supposed to play school sports like the other kids, although Lukic tried and was booted from his high school basketball team. He found his home and path to a life of physical strength and wellness in the basement-boxing ring of the YMCA. Now a successful electrical engineer and state boxing champion Lukic is giving back by founding the Fight for Hearts non-profit organization to help other children who have experienced heart surgery that they are not alone, and there is nothing they can‰Ûªt do.>