Jay Baldwin. Veteran PWRR. UK
Donation protected
I cannot believe this is the second time I have had to try and help Jay raise funds to allow him to live a normal life.
Jay was a successful senior NCO in the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment. PWRR. He served in 2 tour's in Iraq and a further two tours in Afghanistan.
It was on his second tour of Afghanistan, in Jan 2012, whilst he was leading a patrol, that he stepped on an IED (improvised explosive device) which caused catastrophic injuries resulting in a double amputation of both legs above the knee. The irony was that Jay was not meant to patrol that day but offered to step in for a mate.
The NHS at the time were only offering our veterans prosthetic legs which fits onto the leg with suction and sockets. This system whilst offering mobility had the challenges of sweating, rubbings chaffing and soreness. It wasn’t comfortable and Jay had decided that walking wasn’t for him all the time this was the only way.
In 2015 an Australian surgeon was offering a revolutionary surgery called Osseointegration.
The Friends of the Regiment, along with the Benevolent Fund, raised funds to send Jay to the other side of the world.
This procedure integrates a metal implant into the femur, which then attaches to his prosthetics which allowed him to walk normally. Jay said ‘it was amazing to pee standing up and to kick a football with his kids”
In 2019 Jay unfortunately developed Hodgkin lymphoma, which is cancer of the blood. After a number of failed treatments, Jay was trialed on a drug which reduced the mass to less than 50%, which in turn gave him the opportunity to receive a stem cell transplant. This transplant, albeit very successful with the cancer, created issues with one of his implants which became infected due to his weakened immune system.
Since the removal of the implant in April 2022, Jay has been waiting for the healing process to naturally happen whilst patiently waiting for NHSE to decide on whether they would eventually be funding Osseo as a NHS standard. After years of extensive successful trials, NHSE have decided that although they see the procedure as viable and that they support it, they don’t currently have the funds to support Osseointergrstion. This doesn’t just affect Jay, but other veterans and members of the British public are missing on life and changing procedure to enable them to walk and have a slight part of their life back.
What happened to the messaging from the Government and NHS that our veterans would be prioritised?
Why is there not a ring fenced fund which allow the many veterans who are in need of help to source funding and not have to raise their own funds?
Our veterans are being let down on a daily basis.
We are looking to raise funds to allow Jay have this operation. If the NHS or Veterans UK suddenly source some funding or we raise more than the fee of the procedure we will donate any excess money raised to Blesma who have been exceptional to Jay of late, keeping him informed of the necessary steps, purchasing him a new wheelchair and generally being there for him.
Organizer
Nick Goble
Organizer
England