This is my brother, Lee Andew, he is 40 years old and has been homeless for the last two years since his relationship broke down. Lee has cirrhosis of the liver and has been living with this disease for some time now, his health is rapidly deteriorating.

Lee is currently very unwell in hospital undergoing detox treatment. Unfortunately Lee has developed a condition called Hepatic encephalopathy. He has been experiencing visual hallucinations and is currently very confused. Lee currently lacks capacity and therefore the hospital have had to complete a DOLS (deprivation of liberty safeguards) which is part of the Mental capacity Act 2005.

Lee has had several admissions into hospital where he has needed detox treatment, however this time round, doctors have said that his liver has significant scarring and another drink will kill him. Lee desperately needs intensive rehabilitation treatment and without this it is only a matter of time before he will die.

Lee has three young children who adore him and really miss him. Due to this horrible disease Lee hasn’t seen his children format least a year now. Lee managed to stay sober for four months last year and had been assessed and accepted into rehab and was waiting for funding to come through. During this time, Lee began to loose hope, he started thinking that he didn’t need the treatment as he was feeling better and by the time the funding had been approved, Lee had begun drinking again.

Lee has two support workers working with him however the support will end this week due to the funding being cut. Without this support, Lee has nobody who can actively support him. He is very vulnerable and has been engaging with other homeless people who also have their problems and therefore not a positive influence on him.

Our mother passed away when Lee was 13 years old and he has never dealt with his bereavement and has self medicated for years. He does not have a diagnosis of mental illness but in my professional opinion as a mental health nurse I believe this is the underlying cause for his drinking.

As you can imagine his illness has caused a lot of distress among his family and close friends and we are desperate to seek help professional help which might just save him and enable him to turn his life around. Unfortunately the treatment he requires is expensive and currently there is no funding available and time isn’t something he has, therefore my aim is to try and raise money towards the cost of his treatment. I would be very grateful if people can share this page or even make a small donation to help with this cause.