Help me get through the final stages of my PhD

ABOUT ME

(Further update: see update below, but as of September 2024 I am back in the UK, still writing the PhD and my hand in date is now July 2025.)

I'm Inigo, a disabled trans man and more importantly, a PhD student completing a PhD at the University of Bristol and Macquarie University, Sydney. My PhD was initially supposed to be two years in each place, but I came back to the UK in October 2022 for what I hoped would be a quite swift visit to recieve gender affirming surgery. I got back to Sydney in January 2024, after quite a lot of other things happening and much later than planned. I'm still making progress with my PhD, but my health issues have slowed it a lot, and since getting back to Sydney I've been quite seriously ill.

I am currently due to hand in my thesis in April 2025, and I'm trying to keep to that deadline. My stipend (academic version of a salary runs out in late September 2024

I have been saving as much of my stipend (and any other income) as possible since the beginning of my PhD, but I haven't been able to work outside of my PhD because of both my location and my health conditions. My rent is currently more than half my PhD Stipend, something which places me below the poverty line.

On top of this my overall health has declined greatly: I was diagnosed in 2017 with Hypermobile Spectrum Disorder, a joint condition which means my connective tissue stretches too far, and I am overly prone to injury. I have chronic pain because of this, and I now use a combination of: a manual wheelchair, a mobility scooter, a walking stick and crutches to get about. Last year I finally managed to see an Occupational Therapist, who has been great! This has, however, meant that I have had to spend quite a lot on adaptive equipment and splints to allow me to function better and reduce my pain level.

Earlier this month I was hospitalised in Sydney and diagnosed with a further chronic pain condition, for which I am currently seeking treatment. I'm getting better medical treatment and outcomes in Sydney than I was in the UK, but it does come with a substantial out of pocket cost, and I've both got limited access to my support system and had to leave a load of adaptive and mobility devices back home thanks to Moving Continent.

Financial stress is bad for ones health. Particularly if you have a heart condition which means your heart rate skyrockets at the drop of a hat. I'm in the final stages of a PhD which I have spent the last decade working towards. I'm looking to raise money so that I have some breathing space and can divert my energy towards finishing my PhD and trying to establish a career.

Moving continents is also just very expensive: beyond flights and accommodation, there's just so many costs to being in a new place. Particularly when disabled.

I am extremely grateful for anything you can give and any forms if sharing and promoting this.