Help Ruby on her road to recovery

Hello, my name is Angela and I am fundraising to support my mum Ruby’s road to recovery.

Ruby was admitted into hospital on Wednesday 18 December with severe back pain, which then escalated into her being airlifted to Royal North Shore on Friday 20 December for specialised neurosurgical support. She has been in a critical condition in ICU ever since.

Her back pain was due to a serious and rare staphylococcus infection in her spinal column and surrounding muscles. This infection came on suddenly, and out of nowhere. Even the doctors at both hospitals were shocked by the speed and severity of the onset.

This infection resulted in sepsis. Ruby’s body then went into septic shock and organ failure. She was unconscious for a week.

Since then she has continued to battle this awful “boss germ” (her words) and makes improvements daily. However her road to recovery will be long. She remains on dialysis, ventilator support and is still experiencing almost full-body paralysis.

We continue to support her each day with whatever care she needs to make it through. This includes most of her family commuting daily from the Central Coast.

It was Ruby’s suggestion to start this fundraising campaign to support her family while she is unable to do so herself - like always, she is thinking of how to help others, and coming up with practical solutions to complex problems. Anyone who knows Ruby will know that’s pretty much her modus operandi!

She acknowledges that she has not always been great at asking for help in the past. We humbly put this out into the world and thank you for considering this request for help now.

With thanks, from Ruby, and her “beautiful family” (her words ☺️)