John and Kylie Atkin

On New Year’s Day John Atkin took his 5 children to the beach for an afternoon swim when he was stung by a blue bottle. The sting quickly turned nasty and caused intense pain, his bottom half of his leg turned black and purple and started to blister. John was admitted to Coffs Harbour hospital that night and has had a tough battle ever since! Drs discovered that John has in fact contracted Vibrio Vulnificus infection which is a rare but life threatening infection caused by marine bacteria. The following day John had emergency surgery on his leg to save both his life and his leg. John spent 11 days in Coffs Harbour hospital where he was treated via IV antibiotics, which at first seemed to help, however the infection was actually spreading. Sunday 14th January John was rushed to Royal North Shore hospital in Sydney where he is still receiving specialist treatment. The infection has been so aggressive resulting in enormous amounts of dead tissues. John has under gone 5 operations thus far where they go in a place a machine inside his leg which drains the reamining dead tissue and stimulates and rejuvenates the nerves to attempts to bring the tissue back to life. The seriousness of this infection is life threatening and in majority of cases can result in amputation. Drs are confident that John will not loose his leg but he is still has a long way to go, with countless operations still to come, rehab, undetermined time still in hospital, skin graphs, medications, and many months off work. This whole event has been extremely emotionally and financially draining on the Atkin family, with 5 children and John being the main bread winner of the family. Kylie has travelled to Sydney last weekend to be by johns side, however the with financial burden and homely duties calling, needed to return home.
The outpouring of support for John, kylie and their family has been huge and the family thanks everyone for their support during this difficult time.
We would like to raise money for kylie to be able to travel back to Sydney to be with John, many times to come. Help pay for ongoing medical costs and help remove some of the financial burden this family currently is struggling with.