Supporting Matts Journey

In 2008 Matt joined the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers of the British Army. He met his wife Carley in December 2010 and together they have 2 daughters, Ava who is 10 and Isla who is 8 and their 2 dogs Benny and Frankie. In January 2018 Matt got posted to Canada, uprooting all of their lives. Even though it was difficult they soon realised that the opportunities available to them would be too good to give up, so after 13 years in the Army, Matt took a civilian job so they were able to remain in Canada and continue to build their amazing life there. However, as amazing as their life in Canada has been, things started to take a turn when Matt was diagnosed with stage 3 melanoma in January 2022. Following his initial diagnosis he had 3 sugeries and immunotherapy treatment. Unfortunately another nodule was found in his neck, and after a biopsy they realised that his treatments weren't working. Due to this, he underwent another surgery and had a new treatment plan which would last a year. During this year all of Matts scans came back showing nothing unusual so his treatment was stopped and he was given the all clear in August 2023. Just four weeks later, however, another lump was found in Matts neck which was shown to be cancer after a biopsy, meaning he was put back onto his immunotherapy treatments. After more scans, 16 lesions have been found in his brain, some as big as an inch, including some on his brain stem. Matt is now booked in to undergo full brain radiation alongside his immunotherapy with the hopes that this will help remove as many of the lesions as possible. Depending on the outcome of the radiation treatment he may need to undergo gamma knife radiation surgery to help with some of the lesions, and as with any issues involving the brain no one really knows how this will effect Matt neurologically. As a result of this diagnosis Matt is also no longer able to drive as he has been told he could start to experience seizures at any moment. At this point Matt and Carley have decided that the best thing for them as a family is to leave Canada as soon as they can and return to the UK where they will have support from their family. This means leaving behind the life that they have built, the friends they have made and their home. This is also very difficult for their girls, giving up everything they have, and trying to bring their dogs back with them so the girls don't have to give them up also. Getting back to the UK is, however, proving difficult due to the cost so every penny will help to bring them home so they can get the support they need. Thank you