Help Hamish's Recovery

My little brother Hamish, who is only 18, was rushed to hospital on Sunday 20th October because he suddenly became severely ill with pneumonia and Neisseria meningitis (an inflammation of the protective membranes around the brain and spinal cord), which caused a life-threatening sepsis. He was transferred from Southampton General Hospital to Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge the following morning, as his kidneys and heart were failing, so needed specialist care. Hamish almost died 4 times in the first 2 days he was in hospital, and since then has been slowly improving everyday in the ICU. The sepsis caused by the meningitis has caused blood clots to form in his blood vessels, and these blood clots have cut off the blood supply to his limbs, causing the tissue in his hands and feet to die. This means that he is going to have both legs amputated from the knee down, his right hand, all of his fingers on his left hand, but possibly the entire left hand as well. He is now back in Southampton General Hospital waiting to, hopefully, be moved to a hospital in London, where his surgery will take place.

This is a very upsetting time for Hamish and our family, and while we are doing all we can to support him, we can't afford a lot of what he will need in the future. We hope to eventually get him prosthetic limbs which will still allow him to feel the sensations he would have felt if he had never lost his hands and legs in the first place. We would also like to get him a car adapted to his disability so that he can still drive. In the shorter term, we need to put a stair lift into our house, so he can access his bedroom, convert our garage into a room to help with his rehabilitation (strength training etc.), and convert our bathroom so that it is more accessible to him. As well as this, he will also need physiotherapy and psychotherapy, and a part-time carer so that our mum can still work.

Hamish has always been a really bubbly, enthusiastic and happy person. He's been there for me through everything and always knows how to put a smile on my face and make me laugh. Despite what he has been through in his life, and especially the past 2 weeks, he has overcome it with a positive outlook and continues to remain his funny self. He is such a brave and strong person, and he continues to make me and my family extremely proud. He started at UoS this September and he was really enjoying it. He's already made so many friends, and is really upset that he won't be able to go back to uni yet. It breaks my heart seeing him like this and I want to do everything I can to help him see that he can still have a bright future, even if it looks different to how he imagined it before.

Any donations would be greatly appreciated by me and my family.

Thank you,

Izzie x