As many of you will know Dave has been coughing up blood since November 2024 and off work since December 2024 when he also started getting short of breath and coughing up greater amounts. After numerous tests and trips to A&E he was finally admitted to hospital on 23rd February this year and diagnosed with a very rare (1 in a billion, trust Dave 🙈🙄) severe autoimmune condition, Pauci-immune Pulmonary Capillaritis, that’s been attacking his lungs. He's classed as being in single organ failure and has so far, undergone:

- Intensive steroid therapy (Prednisolone)

- Multiple immunosuppressant treatments (Cyclophosphamide and Rituximab)

- 12 PLEX (plasma exchange) treatments

- ICU care with high-flow oxygen and CPAP

- Months of tests, scans, and procedures (I've lost count of how many x-rays he's had, I'm surprised he doesn't have a permanent readybrek glow 😆)

Dave initially showed an improvement but then started to decline until, on Thursday 17th April, he was moved to ICU because his condition had significantly worsened. Sadly there were no signs of improvement and Dave continued to deteriorate. I thought I'd hit rock bottom then, little did I know how much worse it was going to get...

On Saturday 26th April I got to the hospital to find Dave prone on the bed and the ICU doctor asked to see me out of Dave's room. He told me Dave's condition was worsening to a degree where they were considering intubation. He said a medically induced coma could mean this could over expand Dave's lungs and introduce a high risk of infection as it would be a foreign body in his lungs and either could kill him, oh and did I mention the high risk of the anesthesic and no more being able to talk to each other, and that they predicted he'd never come back out of the coma? I was devastated 😭😢 However his breathing calmed down, so he dodged the bullet that day. Dave 1 - Disease 0

On Sunday 27th I was called back in to the hospital (I was working). It was the same again, his condition had deteriorated further and they gave me a couple of hours to spend with Dave and say our goodbyes, until they were going to intubate him 😭 I helped Dave calm down his breathing again and when the doctors came back they were surprised to see he was stable again. Dave 2 - Disease 0

Monday 28th, I was again called in to the hospital (I was working again), this time they spoke to both of us, to say intubation had now been taken off the table. The disease wasn't responding to the treatments and there was no point prolonging Dave's life, when there was no further treatment they could give. They definitely didn't think they'd be able to sedate him to be able to intubate him anyway, the risk was too high. The doctor told us to spend every minute we could together and wait for Dave to die 😭😭 (Forever now known as death day 💔). I climbed in to bed with him twice that night to calm him down and reassure him it was all ok and get his breathing back to normal. (I know you're all thinking, bloody hell how well made are those NHS beds, and yes fully clothed?!? 🤣)

This was when we decided between us for the impromptu marriage. There had been no long term planning for this, Dave didn't really believe in marriage. It's amazing how your views change faced with death, we literally decided there and then at 4pm on Monday 28th April and we were married at 2:30pm Tuesday 29th April! (It's amazing the lengths you have to go to, to get a man to marry you these days 🥰🤣) What should have been one of the happiest moments of our lives became a moment of desperation and love in the middle of a long, life-threatening medical battle. The Chaplin and ICU were amazing and did everything to make it special for us. They decorated the room, (thank you to The Card Factory who wouldn't let them pay for the balloons and banners! ❤️🥰), bought a cake and a bouquet and even a glass of bubbly to have after the ceremony! I've never seen so many staff with their noses pressed up against the window, and don't be fooled, a lot of them were men!

We later found out that Dr Doom (the Dr who gave us the bad news 🤣) didn't actually expect Dave to make it to Tuesday, so by the wedding day itself, Dave should already have been dead. How we both were able to go through with the ceremony itself was nothing short of a miracle! Dave had been on the CPAP hood (see photo) up until that point and they tried him on the nasal high flow and he managed to stay on it and did the whole hour it took for the wedding. I was so proud of him and how he clearly said all his vows despite being so physically and mentally exhausted 🥰🥰

Against the odds – and perhaps thanks to a bit of luck, the treatment finally kicking in, and the love of a good wife, love conquers all right? 😉😍 Dave is still here 😁 We are now death day+11, he's had the feeding tube out, he's got his appetite back. His oxygen requirements are continuing to drop now 40% pressure, 38ltrs of oxygen, he's had all the central lines removed, he just has one cannula left! We think in the background, that his long term treatments that he's had for the last 11 weeks, finally kicked in at the crossover point of when he was meant to die. So Dave 3 - Disease 0 🥳🥳

The Doctors here are completely dumbfounded as to how he has suddenly turned it around, as I said I definitely think love conquers all but you may all have your own theories, all I know is, he's still here to fight another day and I'm not letting him go anywhere 🥰😘🥰😘🥰😘

Why We're Asking for Help

I've kept the business going through all this time and visited Dave every single day bar 3 when work was just too much and I missed visiting hours (stricter when he was on ICU), that's 72 out of 75 days so far. Last week 3 of those days were 64 hours in a row, when i was called back to the hospital on death day 💔😴 I've now had to pause work to spend every spare minute with Dave. He's showing positive signs of improvment but he's still very ill.

This health crisis has taken everything out of us – emotionally, physically, and financially. Dave has been on Statutory Sick Pay of just £507/month since March. We haven't even got wedding rings! Our savings are gone, and expenses piling up food, travel, basic living costs. We don’t know when Dave will be well enough to return home, it could still be months, let alone when he'll actually be fit enough to return to work 🙈

How You Can Help

I really thought this fund was going to be for Dave's funeral and I for one am so happy its not! So instead, if you'd considered buying us a wedding gift or putting some money towards our wedding rings, we’re asking instead for your support during this incredibly hard time, and we'll put your donation – no matter how small – directly toward, covering the mortgage, food, and bills, while Dave remains in hospital and giving us a bit of breathing room during his recovery, and who knows, there may be enough left for 2 wedding rings at the end of all this 💫💫 Once we're back on our feet we promise we'll buy those special wedding gifts on your behalf 😁😘

We’ve set a modest goal of £5,500 to help us get through the next few months, but any support beyond that would be a true lifeline

If you’re not able to donate, please consider sharing our page. Every bit of help counts. We're super happy to have your positive vibes, well wishes or prayers, we'll take any positive help we can get or if you prefer, consider being a blood or plasma donor. Dave has had 12 plasma exchanges (21-23 bags of plasma each time) and 3 blood transfusions, 2 bags each time so their stocks are depleted!!

Thank You

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for reading, for your support, and for believing in our journey. We're grateful beyond words.

With love and hope,

Joanne and Dave now Mr & Mrs Fontana 🥰🥰