Charlie is still waiting for his new liver its no life for a young man please keep Charlie smiling x

A Call out to all VW enthusiasts as a community we are fabulously supportive and thank you to all who are supporting us we need your help to spread the word and bring a smile to Charlies face.

You will know Mart and Helen Blay from their tireless work with the Split Screen Van Club (SSVC) and active membership of local clubs like Dunstable Dubbers, St Albans Dubbers, WGC Dubbers, Herts VW Club or Tea and Tarts or you might just know them from spending time in a field surrounded by Old VW' Campervans. Mart has also been involved with local youth in their area as a Scout Leader. They are both two of the kindest people I know who will willingly help where they can - now its our turn to try and help them.

Mart and Helen have two boys, Charlie and William. This amazing family have been my friends for many years and I am sure they are yours too.

We all knew that Charlie has been ill as a child, he still bears the scars of that terrible time, but he is a bright vivacious and courageous young man who is the life and soul of any party, Will, bless him, is Charlie's younger brother, definitely more the strong silent type. He always supports his older brother.

What a lot of us didn't know is that Charlie had Childhood Cancer. Charlie was diagnosed with Bilateral Wilms Tumour (kidney cancer) when he was 2 years old (2000). Within a month of diagnosis he had started chemotherapy but after only two further months he had a really bad reaction to both drugs and Doctors had to stop using them.

Charlie’s liver was permanently damaged. To stop further damage he was put on three more chemo drugs. He finished this treatment in October 2001 and has been cancer free ever since. He doesn’t have two kidneys anymore but what he does have is working.

His liver has continued to be a problem and at age 7 (2005) he was diagnosed with liver disease (Portal Hypertension etc). Kings specialist liver unit have monitored his condition since then and recent scans and tests show that his liver is deteriorating further.

In September Charlie went through transplant assessment and has been accepted for a liver transplant. He went live on the transplant list in October 2017.

He is now attending weekly appointments at UCLH with their long term follow up team for therapy sessions and currently has monthly appointments at Kings regarding the liver clinic.

Now we wait!

Check out their progress on the Facebook Group #teamcharlie

Charlie is only 19 years old and because of his illness can't go to university, get a job take a holiday with his friends or do many of the other things young men his age do. The whole family have to be on a constant state of high alert just in case they get the call! Charlie will need to get to Kings as soon as possible to ensure the Liver he receives is still viable.

Afterwards, Charlie will take several months to recover, that is assuming the transplant is successful.

I am hoping you will give a little for Charlie during this really really tough time and maybe if your generosity allows when Charlie has recovered he can take a few driving lessons or have fun with his friends

Its a really hard time for them all right now and with their permission I have set up this page because I know there are many people out there who would like to help and this to me seems the most practical and useful way we can and help Charlie smile through this.