Please Help Our Dad Come Home

Hi, we are the family of Dave.

We are fundraising to get our dad home

Our dad, our Dave was the fittest 50 year old with no struggles/illnesses no medical problems, very healthy and kept himself active, never been in hospital and would rarely be at the doctors. On the 27th December 2022, he suffered a major heart attack at home, he remained calm throughout the whole thing and was the one who made us aware this was happening. We then called for an ambulance, where the advisor on the phone made us aware that an ambulance would take 3.5 hours. Me, my sister, brother and my mum were unable to lift him due to him being a lead weight. We were massively grateful for our auntie and uncle who managed to get to us in under 5 minutes to help us lift my dad and get him off to the hospital. When we walked into a&e, there were beds everywhere with other patients up the corridor. My dad was kept behind a curtain connected to wires/machines waiting to be sent off to a specialist hospital, where he was in so much pain but continued to lie on the bed and tell us he loves us and everything was going to be okay. Two paramedics then came to take him off to a different hospital and our dad begged them to not let him die because he has a family he needs to support.

We’d then rushed off to meet our dad there, we were waiting around 2 to 3 hours for him to come out of his emergency operation where they had fit a stent, and whilst being on the operating table suffered 5 cardiac arrests.

He’d then come out of his operation to where we were all left shocked that this was something we were going through and suffering as a family. The night he came out of his operation, Dave had continuously complained that he was in immense pain with his legs/feet/toes. This pain gradually worsened and began to turn red, purple and black. He carried on complaining and begging for someone to look at him to see what was wrong, but carried on getting told this is part of the healing process.

On the 02/01, me and my sister came to visit our dad where he sat and told us that he’s not thick and he knows his legs are going to be amputated from where he had been neglected and not treated, from telling them for just over a week the pain/treatment wasn’t working and gradually got worse and travelled up his legs.

11pm that evening, our mum received a phone call from a surgeon who advised that our dad was being rushed down for an emergency operation on his legs for them both to be split from the top of his ankles to his knees on either sides of his calf’s. We were told this is a 50/50 operation on if our dads life will make it through as his heart is still very weak. This operation was to release the pressure and try and reduce the pain he was suffering as we were told he has now been diagnosed with compartment syndrome which needs to be treated within 12-24 hours of symptoms showing.

Our dad being as strong as he is, came out of his operation the other side and got moved to critical care where he was closely monitored and looked after for 48 hours where doctors and consultants never left his side and told us that he was the first patient they had dealt with in this condition in there 40 years of practice.

On the 24/01 all of our lives then changed forever as my dad went back down to surgery for a life changing operation for below the knee amputation on his right leg, and then shortly followed by his left leg on the 31/01 where both operations were under an epidural as it was likely he wouldn’t wake back up after a general anaesthetic. So as traumatising as it is to lose your limbs he was awake throughout the procedure.

From being told by different doctors and consultants that this sort of thing doesn’t come off a heart attack and the situation we are now in is completely life changing especially for our independent dad.

We are now in a situation where our dad is very slowly recovering, trying to be positive of the situation and get back home to us.

We have been told that our dad will not be able to return back to our home and live with us as our house isn’t fit for somebody with no legs, which nobody’s home is until you are in this situation and it isn’t a situation you can prepare for until it happens.

We have been told he will need to be moved into a respite/care home which is something we do not want at all. He is a young 50 year old man who has worked and served in the army from the age of 16 for 6 years, worked his whole life up until this terrible situation and paid all his taxes just like most people, supported his family and all we’re asking for is some help from the government to help adjust our home, which there not.

Our dad never put himself in this situation and deserves to be back home with his family to try and carry on as normal as possible and live the rest of his life happy.

On going from this, we are still waiting results on if he is now also suffering with heart failure, and all we want is our dad to come home.

Anyone that knows our dad, knows he is the most kind hearted person and would do anything for anyone and is just the funniest person there is, and wouldn’t ask anyone for anything. Our dad is the biggest family man you can get and would give up the world for us. He would get up on a weekend and go for his “power walks” to keep fit, always join in at footy with my 16 year old brothers team, and help out where needed, get involved in lads v dads, climbing up snowdon for charity etc and now all of this along with work itself and just living a day to day normal life has now changed forever and been taken away from him.

Anything at all, we would be massively grateful for as we just need to adjust our home and get him back with us. For example, shower room, stair lift until he can have his prosthetics, doors in the house to be widened, a ramp to get in and out of our home and general adjustments to make his home safe for him.

Thank you so much for reading and donating anything at all or even just listening to our dads story, this isn’t something we ever thought we would have to make and is massively massively appreciated