Help us fund a new roof

Hi everyone, for those of you that don't know me and my family, my name is Maria, I am married to Tom (who is in the picture). We have three children; Mia (18), Jimi (13) and Stevie (7), we live in the UK.

 

This is not easy for me to share and the decision to create a GoFundMe page is not one I have come to very easily, but here it goes.

 

Over the last few years life has been challenging, we have got into major debt due to me being made redundant three times back to back. My husband who was the homemaker for the last sixteen years was just about to get back out into the professional world and join me in trying to get us out of our situation, when he was diagnosed with leukaemia. During his first month in hospital undergoing chemo, our felt roof, which he normally maintains, started to leak. The leaks got worse after every downpour we have had over the last few months. There are several leaks coming into the house and getting a new roof is now a matter of urgency.

 

What started as a few drips into bowls, moved onto filling up saucepans and we are now making good use of our woks. Every time it rains I have to go into the loft day or night and empty several containers that I have strategically positioned. We have had a handful of roofers inspect the roof and every one of them has said that the felt roof is irreparable and needs replacing.

 

In May, Tom started to notice that his hands and feet were getting cold and rang the doctors. In June he was sent for a blood test due to his poor circulation. Within two weeks he was fast tracked to see a consultant and within days he was admitted to Addenbrooke’s hospital in Cambridge and was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia. He would end up staying in hospital for almost five weeks with no contact with the kids. They caught it relatively early but speed of starting the treatment was crucial. He has been given a good prognosis with hopes of four rounds of chemo being enough. The disease is awful, its blood cancer so it is everywhere, the treatment is harsh but Tom continues to fight through it all and be brave through the sickness, the weight loss, the hair and beard loss, the exhaustion and the extensive chemo that is saving his life. He has recently just come home from being in hospital again after he picked up an infection after his third round of chemo. The chemo, as many know, wipes out the immune system and this round in particular was the highest dose he has had so far. Keeping him safe and germ free isn't easy, especially when you have a seven year old at school bringing home colds and goodness knows what else. Covid has been scary for Tom so he is, as you can imagine, shielding from the public and even from his own family at times, even one little cold could send him back to hospital and hooked up to an antibiotic drip.

 

For me, running a house, looking after three kids, looking after Tom, managing our debts, freelancing full time, taking Tom to hospital every other day, and going into the loft every time it rains and stopping it from raining into our bedrooms, has been one of the toughest periods of my life.

 

Although we have been struggling (as many do) we have still found a little extra over the years to donate to other’s GoFundMe pages. Which makes us feel a whole lot better about asking for help in our time of need and sharing our story with you all. I am freelancing which suits us for now as I am able to look after everyone and work from home for the majority of the time, but it's not a constant stable stream of income. This is the part where I need your help. No matter how small a donation, it will truly make a difference to our lives as we go into the next six months, be it helping to replace our roof to easing the financial burden of cancer until Tom gets through this.

 

We have been trying to manage this leaking roof for five months now and have been unable to find a way to avoid a very long wet winter. If this GoFundMe page is successful we could have a roof in a matter of weeks. Tom and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts for reading our story and for any small contribution you are able to make. Our family will honestly be forever grateful, thank you, thank you, thank you x