Can you help our paralysed brother Michael?

On 4th September 2022 Michael broke his neck during a family holiday in Hungary, just two weeks before he was due to start his new career as a graduate Electrical Engineer. Michael’s injury has left him permanently paralysed from the neck down at only 28 years old. He has forever lost all sensation and movement in his arms, hands, legs, and body below the level of his shoulders. Our amazing, adventurous brother’s life changed forever in an instant. No longer able to climb, swim and explore. No longer able to make pizza dough, dance while bellowing songs, or give his signature bear hugs. No longer able to do the things he loved.

We are Michael’s twin brother David and sister Seòna. We are starting a GoFundMe page to help raise money to safeguard and support Michael’s future. Our parents have recently retired from the NHS, having spent their careers nursing and caring for others. They will now dedicate the rest of their lives nursing and caring for Michael. Michael will not be able to do any form of basic self-care, such as washing, dressing and feeding himself. He will be reliant on others and on modern technology from now on.

Michael has been incredibly strong in the face of his paralysis. In the first days after his injury, while processing the immense shock of what happened to him, he was mostly concerned about how others in the family were coping, which so well illustrates his brave and caring spirit.

We all want to give Michael the best possible future we can so he can still live a fulfilling life. There is a long road ahead but easing the financial strain will make that journey a little less difficult. Our family have already spent a large amount of money on Michael’s medical repatriation from Hungary. Although medical equipment and basic home modifications will be provided by the NHS and local council, this only covers essentials. There are many additional things we can spend money on that will greatly help Michael and improve his quality of life. Some examples include (but are not limited to):

• Specialist equipment such as voice/eye/head-controlled devices (he will not have use of his hands)

• Wheelchair accessible vehicle

• Specially adapted wheelchairs for outdoors

• Additional modifications to our family home to maximise Michael’s independence

• Accessible activities

Many people have very kindly reached out wanting to support our family, and we are so grateful for that. For those who are unsure how to help, please consider a financial donation to assist with expenses related to Michael’s rehabilitation and for his future. Our mother, a recently retired NHS intensive care neonatal nurse, will manage the money raised from this appeal and spend it solely on things to benefit Michael.

Updates will be provided on Michael’s journey, so please check in and follow his progress.

For those who don’t know Michael, more detail on who he is and what has happened to him is provided below.

Michael’s story

About Michael

Michael was born in Glasgow and grew up in West Linton in the Scottish Borders. He went to Peebles High School and then completed an undergraduate degree in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Edinburgh. He then took a job working in customer services in Edinburgh for three years, but always hoped to get back into engineering.

Deciding he needed a fresh start, Michael travelled to Australia. He loved his time there, making many great friends and experiencing some tough days labouring out on farms around Bundaberg and on construction sites in Sydney. After living there for one year the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Cutting short his travels, Michael returned to the UK. After his year away, Michael was now more certain that he wished to pursue a career in electrical engineering. He went back to university and did a Master’s in Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Strathclyde University remotely during lockdown. He was highly motivated, studied hard and gained a Master’s with distinction.

After his Master’s, Michael was successful in gaining a graduate position at a large energy company. His accident happened only two weeks before he would have started. Although his injury currently prevents him from starting his job, Michael is hopeful he will eventually be able to proceed with his career despite the physical challenges his disability will bring. Thankfully the company have been understanding and are positive about his future prospects with them. Technology is available that allows people with quadriplegia to use computers and do desk-based jobs.

Michael has varied interests and hobbies which he enjoyed before his injury, many of which will be crucial in keeping his positivity and quality of life going forward.

Michael is an avid outdoors enthusiast. He loved climbing with his brother and friends. They would often go bouldering at Eden Rock in Edinburgh and out at the EICA in Ratho, and constantly challenge each other as to who could complete the most unique or difficult climbs that day or who could hang the longest on the finger boards. Michael was organising a summer climbing trip for them to visit some of the UK outdoor climbing hotspots in 2023.

Michael loves exploring and wild swimming. Together with his family, friends and dog Ben, he found lots of great spaces to swim, climb and hike around the Scottish Borders. Although Michael’s disability will mean that he is no longer able to do many of the things he loved, he is desperate to keep the outdoors as a part of his future. Providing him with wheelchair accessible transport and specially adapted wheelchairs are some of the ways to make this possible.

Michael also loves movies, TV, and gaming. He is a particular fan of comic book movies and science fiction. Michael is a keen gamer and can’t wait to get back to being able to play games with his family and friends. Although he will not be able to interact with video games in the same way, there are tools designed and being developed for people with quadriplegia who have no hand movement. This technology enables people with Michael’s disability to play video games using alterative controls. Giving Michael access to these tools will help to ensure he is able to continue doing some of the things he loves.

Michael’s injury

At the end of August 2022, Michael, along with his twin brother David, travelled to Hungary to attend their cousin’s wedding. After meeting up with family in Budapest they drove to Lake Balaton, with their sister Seòna and her partner Scott, where the wedding was being held. The four of them stayed together in an Airbnb close to the wedding venue with a beautiful view of the lake, and spent most of their time in the couple of days leading up to the wedding swimming and stand up paddle boarding. The day after the wedding, they returned to their favourite swimming spot, this time joined by their parents, Andy and Christina, Uncle Steve - the father of the groom - and Aunt Mags.

It was a popular public swimming spot and there were many people there that day. The lake was sandy bottomed and opaque with minerals. They hired paddleboards as they had done on the previous days. Michael was paddling with his Mum sitting on the back of the board and David paddling on a board in front. Michael wanted to swim and let his Mum have a shot of paddling so dived into the water off the paddleboard from a kneeling position. They were about 50 metres from the shore, but the water was cloudy and deceptively shallow. He later said that he heard and felt his neck break when he hit his head on the bottom, and he was immediately completely unable to move his arms or legs. He knew he was paralysed and believed he would drown, but somehow managed to hold his breath. It was a terrifying experience for him, which he remembers well. He floated to the surface face down and after a few seconds David realised something was wrong and jumped in and grabbed him and pulled him up to get his head out of the water. They managed to get him onto the paddle board and started pulling him to shore while shouting for help. His Dad and Uncle helped them get him ashore. Michael had stopped breathing and they started CPR. His Mum then sister doing chest compressions and Dad giving him mouth to mouth. Some kind people phoned the emergency services requesting a helicopter and translated the operator’s instructions. They were shouting to keep doing the chest compressions and not to stop, although his Dad could see that Michael needed oxygen and made the right decision to keep giving him rescue breaths.

An emergency helicopter arrived and paramedics took over. Michael’s oxygen saturation was still good, thanks to his Dad doing mouth to mouth, and his heart was strong. He managed to respond to some questions and said his head was sore. The paramedics did sensation tests on his limbs that he could not feel, nor could he move them. They applied a neck-collar and he was airlifted to an intensive care unit in a hospital with neurosurgical facilities 100 km to the north, in a city called Győr. They had to land the helicopter on the way as Michael stopped breathing again and needed ventilation. His family drove up to the hospital in two hire cars. When they arrived at the hospital they were informed that Michael had a very serious spinal injury and would never move his arms or legs again, and also that there was still a significant risk to his life. He was given emergency surgery that evening to put a metal plate in his neck with an aim to stabilise the fracture and prevent further damage.

Michael spent 12 days in intensive care at the hospital in Győr. The emergency services and intensive care in Hungary saved his life and stabilised him for medical transfer. Although he did not have travel insurance, his UK Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) covered his emergency care in Hungary and his family were able to arrange and pay for a medical repatriation company to fly him back to Scotland. On the 16th of September he was flown to Glasgow and admitted to the National Spinal Injuries Unit at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital. He has received excellent care there, but still has a long slow road ahead before the possibility of getting back home.

Michael wishes to return to his family home to live with his parents, which is also what they wish. His battles are relentless: fighting recurring infections, further operations on his neck, living with a tracheostomy and training his diaphragm to breath - hopefully - without the help of a ventilator, to name but a few. He has been through so much already and his journey is only just beginning. Michael is totally aware of what has happened and has been kept fully informed by medical staff at every stage. His brain is fortunately completely undamaged. Despite everything, Michael has such a strong will to survive, and with the support of his family and friends there is little doubt that he will not just survive but go on to live a fulfilling life. Specialised equipment and accessible activities, bought with the money raised by this appeal, will greatly help to provide Michael with a better quality of life than he will otherwise have.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read Michael’s story. If you are able to provide a donation, we are so incredibly grateful for any amount.