Polish Influencer Cycles Nationwide To Fund Max’s Treatment

The news in Polish

1. influencer  (m.)
   osoba znana w internecie, która ma wielu obserwujących i może wpływać na ich opinie i decyzje ↩︎
2. choroba  (f.)
   stan, kiedy ktoś nie jest zdrowy, coś w ciele lub psychice działa źle ↩︎
3. mięsień  (m.)
   część ciała zbudowana z włókien, która porusza kościami i pozwala się ruszać ↩︎
4. terapia  (f.)
   leczenie choroby, zespół metod, które mają pomóc choremu ↩︎
5. drogi
   taki, który kosztuje dużo pieniędzy ↩︎
6. wpłacać
   dawać pieniądze na konto, na zbiórkę lub do banku ↩︎

Translation

Text comprehension

Question 1: Why is Piotr Hancke riding a bicycle from Zakopane to Gdańsk?

Question 2: How do people support Max while watching Piotr’s ride online?

Vocabulary

Polish	English
influencer  (m.)	influencer
choroba  (f.)	illness
mięsień  (m.)	muscle
terapia  (f.)	therapy
drogi	expensive
wpłacać	pay in / deposit

Read the full story

A popular Polish influencer known as Łatwogang, whose real name is Piotr Hancke, has launched a new online charity challenge: a non‑stop bicycle ride from Zakopane to Gdańsk to raise money for the treatment of an eight‑year‑old boy, Max Tocki.

The aim of the campaign is to collect around 12 million złoty, the missing part of the 15‑million‑złoty cost of a gene therapy for Max. The treatment is available in the United States and is considered by his family to be the boy’s best chance to slow the progress of his illness.

Max lives with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a severe genetic condition that causes the gradual and irreversible weakening of muscles. According to his parents, the therapy, sometimes referred to by the name Elvidys, may not cure the disease but could significantly slow it down and improve their son’s quality of life. They emphasise that they are in a race against time, because with DMD every month of delay means further muscle loss.

The ride began in the mountain resort of Zakopane on a Friday afternoon at around 16:00 local time. From the start line, reporters described a scene of intense but controlled preparation: cameras were adjusted, streaming equipment was tested and the bicycle was checked. Hancke, a slim young man, appeared focused, repeatedly looking at the route on his phone and answering questions from viewers watching the preparations live on the internet.

Hancke announced that he plans to cross Poland “in one go”, covering roughly 700 kilometres to the Baltic port city of Gdańsk in about 40 hours. The entire journey is being broadcast live online, allowing viewers to follow his progress and donate money in real time. He has said he intends to ride almost continuously, with at most one short stop for a brief sleep, depending on weather conditions and his physical state.

The fundraising started at high speed. Polish media reported that within just a few hours of departure, while Hancke had ridden only a few dozen kilometres from Zakopane, the donations reached one million złoty. After around 70 kilometres, the total passed three million złoty, and by late morning the following day it had exceeded five million złoty. By Sunday at 8 a.m., the amount collected was reported at over 11.6 million złoty, bringing the campaign close to its target.

The boy’s parents, Anna and Robert Tocki, travelled with Max to Zakopane to attend the start of the ride. They described the campaign as a “light at the end of the tunnel” after a long period in which their earlier fundraising efforts had almost stopped. They said they had at first tried to protect their son from the full details of his diagnosis, but eventually decided to explain the situation to him when they created the public collection for treatment abroad.

Max himself has expressed hope that the new initiative will succeed. He told Polish media that he had followed Hancke’s earlier activities online and believed this campaign could also reach its goal. For Max and his family, meeting the influencer in person before the start of the journey was described as a powerful and emotional moment.

Hancke, who has over 1.7 million followers on Instagram, is not new to large‑scale charity projects. Earlier this year, he organised a nine‑day non‑stop livestream for the Polish organisation Cancer Fighters, supporting children with cancer. During that event, a single song by rapper Bedoes and 11‑year‑old patient Maja Mecan played continuously in the background. The original goal of 500,000 złoty was quickly surpassed, and the final amount exceeded 282 million złoty, attracting attention from both Polish and international media.

After that record‑breaking stream, Hancke publicly stated that he wanted to take a long break from social media. However, he later told his audience that he had come up with a new idea which, in his view, could “help save someone’s life”, and therefore he decided to act immediately. He stressed that he does not consider riding across Poland on a bicycle to be a “gigantic achievement” compared with the daily struggle of children living with DMD, and that his goal is simply to use his online reach to support them.

For this new project, Hancke introduced an additional personal challenge: if the campaign succeeds in raising the entire 12‑million‑złoty amount before he arrives in Gdańsk, he has pledged to rest only eight to ten hours and then cycle back from Gdańsk to Zakopane, also under live transmission. This promise is designed to motivate continued donations even when the total is close to the target.

The exact route of the ride was not fixed in detail beforehand. In interviews, the influencer said he would simply “ride forward” across the country, adapting to road conditions and his own endurance. At one stage he was reported to be passing through the Łódź region in central Poland, including roads near the municipality of Dobryszyce. Throughout the journey, viewers can comment on the stream, follow the constantly updated donation counter and share the fundraising link.

The campaign has again drawn wide public interest in Poland. Commentators in local media note that such high‑profile online actions can bring rapid support to individual families facing extremely high medical costs, but they also raise broader questions about access to expensive treatments and the role of social media personalities in public health fundraising. In this case, however, coverage across different outlets has focused primarily on the practical progress of the ride, the growing donation total and the hopes of Max and his parents that the journey across Poland will bring them within reach of life‑changing therapy.

Info: ‘Polish Learner News’ is a service from ‘Let’s Learn Polish’, a Polish language school offering various types of online Polish courses for learners at different levels. As a dedicated provider of Polish language education, we aim to support consistent study and practice through regular updates and learning materials.