On the 24th of May 2018 Xander van Der Poll, first year medical student at Bristol University, fell from a tree onto a protruding root causing a burst spinal cord and crushing his T12 vertebrae, leaving him with no feeling or movement from the waist down. Since that day he has been on six weeks flat bed rest and has recently been moved to the spinal care unit at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital in Oswestry where he will start his rehabilitation.

Why raise money to support Xander and his family, you might ask? Well Xander has been part of our lives for 19 years, he is our nephew! Xander is the life of the party, bringing much joy, fun and laughter to the daily lives of those around him. He has shown so much courage and resilience since his accident and is determined to walk again and pursue his dream of becoming a doctor!

But nothing can prepare a parent for the upheaval this sudden and unexpected change brings. As parents ourselves, we know the importance of family sticking together in difficult times. We want to lighten their burden a little in areas where we can make a difference, so we ask you to join us in raising funds to meet their increased travel & accommodation cost, equipment needed by Xander and other unexpected costs whilst Xander is in Oswestry.

All funds raised will go to support them and Xander so they can focus on his rehabilitation and any funds that might be left over will be donated to the RJAH Orthopaedic Hospital, where Xander is the recipient of excellent medical care!!

We'll be doing a few different fundraising events to support this initiative, so watch this space.

You can follow Xander's Instagram blog at six_weeks_in_bed and his mum, Karen's on Facebook at One Step Closer

Thank you for being a part of this journey!