The family of Nessebar police officer Stanimir Bogdanov is raising money for his treatment in Turkey. He has stage four colon cancer. They need €224,000 and have so far raised €64,000, his relatives said.

Bogdanov has served as a police officer for more than 25 years and has won many awards. He rose to head of the police station in Obzor. Luchezar Kolev, a police inspector at the Nessebar district police department, described how his career began: "He started on the lowest rung as a patrol officer, then became a district inspector, where the two of us worked together."

The cancer is a rare and aggressive form. Despite operations and months of treatment in Bulgaria, the disease is getting worse.

So the family turned to Turkey, where doctors offer personalised therapy. His son Emil Bogdanov said they chose a vaccine made specially for his father, which is meant to turn his own cells against the cancer.

"At Christmas 2024 we heard the worst diagnosis a daughter, a son, a wife can hear," said his daughter Zlatomira Koleva. She wants her father to know that everyone is with him, loves him and will not give up.

A relative, Borislava Bachvarova, believes there is hope even if the chance is one in a hundred.

The officer's two children, Zlatomira and Emil, appealed for help. His brother Ventsislav Bogdanov asked relatives, friends and anyone who can to support the family, so that Stanimir can go on living among his own people.

Football tournaments are being played in his support, and a charity concert is planned in Nessebar on 15 November.