So why am I raising money to buy wheelchairs for a hospital when you expect a hospital to have wheelchairs and you see them when you go there, it's because in all my years of visiting my partner Debbie, I realised, that although there are wheelchairs at the hospital a Ward doesn't actually have one of their own and what a difference it would make if they did

And why not try to raise funds in her memory to change that and buy them a nice comfortable one as well

You will have to excuse me I have mental health problems and am autistic which means my brain works differently to yours but I hope this all makes sense

It all started with my partner of six years Deborah Day or Debbie as she liked to be called sadly passing away on Ward 16 the female asthma ward at Milton Keynes Hospital on October 30th last year

She had asthma and as the years went by it gradually got worse, 2024 till her passing was the worst she spent more time in hospital than she didn't at home but we got on with things hoping that one day things would get better but unfortunately they never did

I could sit and write for hours about her illness, her other health problems, how it affected us both and her family, but you don't really want to hear that, it's sad and some might find it quite distressing so Im going to keep things positive and tell you how much of a difference any money you donate will help so many staff and patients at Milton Keynes Hospital instead

I started fundraising to try and buy brand new wheelchair for wards at Milton Keynes Hospital, back in December of last year, after Debbie had died I offered Ward 16 her wheelchair as over the years of sitting by Debbies bedside I noticed they didn't have one and what a difference one would make but unfortunately they said no as it was used

I don't know why they didn't have one and it was the same when Debbie was on other wards as well, they had everything else, everything they needed to try and make you better and send you home, just not a wheelchair

I know how disappointed Debbie was when she was well enough to go off the ward for some fresh and after walking the corridors of the hospital to try and find a wheelchair to take her out but I couldn't, which meant another 24 hours in bed or sat in the chair and no rest from what goes on on a ward, the noise, the things you see that sometimes aren't nice and no break from the boredom you must feel, when you're in hospital and not at home

Ive seen physiotherapists use wheelchairs when they are teaching people to walk again and build their strength up after a long stay in hospital, they have one with them, incase walking gets a little too much for the patient, then they can sit in the wheelchair and be wheeled back to bed and I've seen disappointed patients when even physio's can't find a wheelchair either

And believe it or not I actually seen staff adapt to not having one and using a commode as a wheelchair instead

But I know what a difference just one wheelchair on a ward will make and does make as together with peoples kindness and generosity four wards at Milton Keynes Hospital already have one and it a wheelchair just for their ward and no one else and there's none of the above and so much more

Patients who can't get to the toilet because they are not strong enough now have the chance of doing just that and actually using the loo with some dignity, rather than using a commode by thier bedside with the curtains pulled round with very little privacy and hardly any dignity at all

There's showers on most wards and patients with have the opportunity of using them, rather than just a wash buy there bed, they can just hop in a wheelchair and go and have a proper freshen up and that will feel so nice as hospital's are so hot you just lay there and sweat

And what I feel is the best of all and most important, if a relative or a friend can't find a wheelchair to take their loved one off of the ward for a treat and some fresh air and can't find a wheelchair all they will have to do is ask and if it's not being used there will be one there to use just for that

And well I was, so touched on a cost to the hospital myself because I saw a family doing that with one of the wheelchairs that had already been donated and words really can't describe how it made me feel it was something a little special

There's probably loads of other things a wheelchair will benefit a ward, but I can only share what I've seen but I know already the ones that have been donated are helping so many people and that's why I'm fundraising to buy more

If you work it out though, there's roughly 30 patients on each ward so one wheelchair is helping 30 people and that's quite incredible

Working through Milton Keynes Hospital Charity is great and if I can let me explain why

Any money you donate can be gift aided, so the tax can be claimed back on it which makes your donation even bigger

Any money you donate will be used to buy wheelchairs and nothing else

The hospital charity staff will talk with the next ward inline for a new wheelchair and find out exactly what type of wheelchair will benefit that ward and make sure they get it

And well really they do everything and all I have to do is the fundraising side of it, which is great because I used to do it all on my own and with the problems with my head it was getting a little too much

Before I joined forces with Milton Keynes Hospital Charity with peoples help if raised enough money to buy four wheelchair for four different wards at Milton Keynes Hospital, but somehow I would now like to raise enough money to buy every ward at Milton Keynes Hospital their own wheelchair, because I feel it would be wrong just to stop and give up and giving up just isn't me

But unfortunately a wheelchair for a hospital isn't cheap, the ones I've been donating so far are just under £250, but at last they are comfortable and they're also bariatric so absolutely anyone can use them, but some wards will need specialist one's and I imagine they're going to cost a lot more

If you could give just what you can afford that would be amazing thank you because every donation no matter how small or big all adds up to buying another wheelchair for another ward and that's about 30 patients that will benefit from it everyday

I would like to finish on this please

Debbie was a very special lady to me and I just wish we could have had more time to spend together but it wasn't meant to be

Im no hero, I do this because it gives me something to focus on now she has gone although it will never make up for her not being here

She was far too unwell for intense care and so couldn't become a donar

I live by the saying everything happens for a reason but you just don't know it at the time

If Debbie hadn't had spent so long in and out of hospital during her life I would never have noticed that most wards at our hospital don't have a wheelchair and how much difference one would make

And if Debbie hadn't had sadly passed away I would never have started fundraising to try and buy wheelchairs for wards,at Milton Keynes Hospital and the few I've donated so far are helping so many people and hoping I'll be able to donate more wheelchair for more wards and help even more people

It's a shame she's not here to see it but if she was I think she'd have been so proud

In loving memory of Deborah Day "Debbie"

16-02-1965 to 30-10-2025

Mum of four

Grandmother of eight

And someone I was lucky enough to spend six years of my life with.

Thank you so much Andy