Help Rex Get Top Surgery

Hi there, you might not know me but I’m going to tell you something deeply personal to me.

When I was a child, I went to bed every night thinking that something was seriously wrong with me. I experienced severe depression, loneliness, self-harm and suicidal ideation.

It wasn’t until I was 26 that I firmly understood why; I’m transgender.

You’ve probably heard that word a lot, maybe you’re even trans yourself. Either way I’m going to tell you what it means to me personally.

That depressed kid I just told you about walked around feeling like a freak-show. A hairy, loud little boy that loved wrestling and monster trucks, who was laughed at, called a ‘dyke’, was reminded to ‘close her legs’ and was gifted pink sparkly dresses for Christmas… and I hated myself down to the cellular level, because surely the rest of the entire world wasn’t the problem. It was something wrong with me.

Fast forward through years of counselling, self-discovery and 7 months of HRT. I’m a much more centred person, life didn’t get too much easier but I know myself and can say with certainty, that I love myself too… and hey! I’m happily married as of last month!

But still, every morning I walk up to my mirror and see that little kid… despising every inch of himself.

Having two huge tumours on your chest that other kids love to gawk, point and laugh at… will do that to a guy. You know that feeling when you see a huge bug on you, sucking your blood? You immediately want to swipe it off or tear it away. That’s exactly how I feel about my chest. Every second I’m aware of my body at this area is a living Hell.

That’s why I can’t wait four more years on the NHS waiting list (I have waited 6 but been advised it is 10 years long where I live).

The private surgeon I have been referred to estimates costs at between £8,750 and £9,000, plus the cost of recovery I am aiming at £9,000 total.

I managed to raise almost a third of this using my art over the past year or two, so I only need the remaining funds and I’ll be ready!

Please help me wake up one day in a body I chose. You won’t just be funding my surgery, you’ll be gifting me smiles in the mirror reflection every morning for the rest of my life, and freedom from the horrors of dysphoria.

”My husband, Rex, has always been there for other people in their darkest moments. He worked hard for the good of those who loved him, but also complete strangers, out of compassion and an extraordinarily strong desire to do what's right. Today, he needs others to rally behind him as he takes a step - not for someone else, but for himself.

I love him and I want to see him love the person he sees in the mirror. I want him to be able to be comfortable in his own skin and I want him to give back all of my favourite oversized T-shirts.

I believe that there are people out there that, like Rex, have a habit of making the world better through acts of kindness. I am certain that donating any amount of money to this cause is such an act.” - Janek, Rex’s spouse.