For those who don’t know Ben, this is his story…. Whilst on holiday in April 2016 with his partner Ella and young family Olivia (7) and Iris (2), Ben sustained life-changing injuries while playing in the swimming pool with his children. He broke his neck in 3 places and as a result, suffered a massive amount of damage to his spinal cord. Ben is now coming to terms with living life as a tetraplegic (the complete or partial loss of use of all four limbs and torso).
Soon after the accident, Ben was transferred between 3 different hospitals in Cyprus due to the severity of his injury, and had surgery to stabilise the breaks. He was then fl own home, but had to make an emergency landing in Germany after going into septic shock caused by pneumonia. He spent 10 days in hospital in Munich recovering where they also fitted a tracheotomy to help Ben breathe via a ventilator. Once deemed stable enough to travel again, Ben was fl own back to the UK via RAF Brize Norton and spent a further 2 and a half months in Gloucestershire Royal Hospital ICU. Ben is now fi nally in Salisbury Spinal Unit, and after numerous chest infections and months on a ventilator, he is able to breathe by himself, which is major step for somebody with Ben’s level of injury. He’s also well enough to spend time in a specialised wheelchair most days.
The accident has been life changing for all the family - adapting to this new life will be challenging. Ben is a young and strong man who has a real determination to get home to Ella and the girls.
To achieve this, there is an extremely long road ahead so that the family can be together again. We need to raise as much money as we possibly can to create access to and extend the entire house. Ben will require specialist care, so there also needs to be plenty of room to accommodate a carer.
This is a HUGE undertaking, the support from the community in Avening and the surrounding areas where Ben lives has been amazing... and we hope you can be too… we need your help