Help to adapt Gareths home following Spinal Injury

My brother in law, a 37 year old carpet fitter, woke in the early hours of 20th April 2024 unable to feel or move his legs.

He had been suffering back pain that week and had been sent home from his GP with painkillers and told to rest.

He was blue lighted to hospital as having suspected Cauda Equina Syndrome, compression of the nerves in his spine. During the first few hours in hospital he progressively lost all feeling from his chest down. He had surgery later the same day to remove a total of 7 spinal abscesses but was told that the road to recovery would be long even if he could regain some mobility.

He has been fortunate to have the opportunity to access specialist rehabilitation services at Cardiff Spinal hospital and was transferred after the initial period of healing after surgery in May 2024.

He is working so hard on his rehabilitation and has regained some feeling but his mobility is greatly affected and he has to use a wheelchair.

His spirit throughout the last few months has been amazing and he has been determined to make the best recovery possible to be able to return home to his family and to an independant way of living. He is giving his therapies the best effort and he has our full support.

Gareth has a loving wife and two children missing him greatly and desperate for him to come home.

His time at the Spinal Unit will soon end and they plan to discharge him in December.

His OT has done a home visit and for him to return home safely and permanently it has been recommended that an extention is built for a sleeping area and a wetroom. The cost quoted has been around £70,000. We have made enquiries about funding and grants and the maximum amount would be £36,000. The family are now also faced with trying to raise the remainder of this cost whilst adapting to their new lives.

Gareth has been able to do overnight visits on weekends to spend time with his family. To enable this to happen they have been sleeping on a reclining sofa and in the past few weeks have had to convert their only living area into a make shift bedroom / living room / bathroom.

He has very little privacy and it's difficult for friends or family to visit because of their living situation. The family no longer have a space where they can sit to eat and meals are served on lap trays as there is no longer enough room for a dining table. Gareth is unable to access any other part of their home.

We are desperately hoping to raise enough funds to make these adaptations possible so that he can return to a safe home and to enable him to maintain his independence.

Any help you can give, even sharing our page, will be so gratefully received xx