**UPDATE FROM MICK HIMSELF**

Here's the latest. I hope it doesn't fry your brain as much as it has mine. 😲 The doctor just came round and said that the infection is still in my Fibula and that there are signs of problems in the other bones. He said that he is happy that everything is going in the right direction and that the antibiotics are doing their job but it will have to be closely monitored. He then said that I am ok to go home today but will have to come back regularly for treatment and further scans. The specialist practioner nurse was with him and i asked her how I could go home today when there is absolutely nothing in place to help with my care. She said that medically I am able to go home and that she would speak to occupational health to find a solufion

Oh and when I asked the doctor if I'm not going to lose my leg now he said that it is still a possibility and that he can't rule it out and that I will have to be closely monitored.

Just had a social worker come in to my room she said that I had requested to see her. Which I had. So i told her my whole situation. ( I dont know how many times I've had to tell my story 🙃) She has now gone to speak to occupational health to find out what progress has been made 🙃

A lot of contradictory stuff here . Im medically able to go home but i will have to be closely monitored. The social worker and the occupational therapist have referred me to peterborough city council's occupational health in order to get ramps bathroom adjustments etc in place. These things take forever. After all we are talking about the council! Carol Gower a friend of Paul and myself has only just had her bathroom done after waiting 14 months.

So as you can see there is going to be a massive gap in my care between going home today and getting everything I need in place.Im still attached to the vac pump and i will have to come back every 2 to3 days to have the dressing and sponge changed.

My head is a mess !! I dont know whether I'm coming or going. Too much information and too many contradictions. But, I am going home so ill just have to get on with it and hope for the best.

Mick Shaw is well known, and loved, by many people. A hard-working, hard-playing, generous and proud man, utterly devoted to his 13-year old son Kyle and rarely seen without his mini-wingman in tow. What few people know about Mick is that he has single-handedly raised Kyle on his own since he was 2 years old after his mother deserted them. Raising a child without his mother around whilst trying to make ends meet as a self-employed builder, for a decade only able to take jobs that fit around the demands of being a single parent, has never been easy, but Mick never complained, and all his life Kyle has wanted for nothing. At times when Mick secured lucrative work, he would scrimp and save to build up some savings for when work wasn't readily available, but still use that time to ensure Kyle had as normal an upbringing as possible, especially enjoying precious time together during school holidays.

2017 started promisingly for Mick and Kyle. Mick was starting to promote his own building business, and was making a name for himself on the local music scene, promoting his own open mic nights where the star turn was his and Kyle's (a budding musical talent himself under Mick's tutelage) unique double act. Things were looking bright for them.

In May 2017, Mick broke his leg in a freak accident. What should have been a routine fracture repair was the start of a nightmare that today, 6 months later, see's Mick in hospital with a staph infection of the bone called osteomyelitis, with an open wound allowing a drip straight into the bone to flush out the infection. A catalogue of institutional errors, too varied and contentious to go into much detail here, have led to this situation. But also because Mick has always been self-employed and self-sufficient, he isn't able or willing to play the system, getting only the very basic insufficent assistance from the government . This has resulted in Mick having to source his own inadequate equipment when at home to have any sort of mobility, the dangers of which became all too apparent when an accident with his second-hand wheelchair resulted in him being back in hospital in a neck brace soon after being originally discharged.

During his current stay in hospital, Mick has been updating his many friends on Facebook with horror stories of conflicting professional opinions, one doctor going as far as to say there's a very real possibility he could lose a leg, to blood stained bedsheets (not his blood) and breakfast served next to soiled bad pans. It's like Victorian times. It's going to be a long time before Mick can work again, if ever.

The purpose of this page is to allow his and Kyle's many friends to offer a few quid to a proud man who, even in his dire situation, would never dream to ask. But bills have to be paid, a house has to be prepared to a standard fit to be a just and proper environment for infection control, but just as importantly, the man needs a break (no pun intended). Despite all that he's going through, his most heartfelt pain will be for Kyle and how he's unable to provide for him right now, with precious little hope for the immediate future. Just a few quid to get some food and essentials in place, utility bills paid, maybe even some Xmas presents for Kyle. **MICK HASN'T ASKED FOR, NOR HAD ANY KNOWLEDGE, OF THIS FUNDRAISER BEING CREATED. I SOUGHT ONLY THE VALUED OPINION AND PERMISSION OF MICK'S BEST MATE WHO'S CURRENTLY LOOKING AFTER KYLE ABOUT WHETHER TO DO IT**

Being self-employed limits the amount of help our government provides, just a £10 donation from each of you reading this will make a massive difference... and you can even consider it a partial loan because you know Mick, you know as soon as he's able to he'll buy you at least a beer back. Thank you for reading.