Leo's tools and toys legacy
Donation protected
Hi there. My name is Pat Dennis.I come from a small town in Northern Tasmania, Australia. Up until September 2014, I was a fairly average normal fun loving middle aged guyjust getting through life.
Then, in September 2014, I was struck down with severe and life threatening illness. It took some time, but i was eventually diagnosed with HLH. An extremely rare disease reminiscent of leukemia. A combination of disease and side effects of treatment left me unable to move, multiple organ failure and on a respirator unable to breath for myself. Through a 6 month hospital admission and with extensive rehab since, I have been able to get some semblence of a life back. I still have some trouble walking, my legs dont really follow instructions that well, I am muscularly much weaker than normal and suffer concentration issues associated with strokes. But I am able to function on a surface level.
During this adventure, my son was born. He has spent most of his young life accompanying myself to the hospital. He is a beautiful boy with a great temperement and we are truly lucky with how wonderful he is. I am most grateful for the rehab that has allowed me to be capable of playing with my son. At the time of his birth I was not able to sit up for more than an hour at a time, and was not allowed to be present during the birth for fear I would somehow fall ill. I desperatley dont want my illness and disability to shape how he grows. So being able to play with him, as hard as a fun 2 year old can be to keep up with, is a huge gift.
I was recently given the news that my ongoing treatment will be aimed mainly at quality of life for the remainder and urged to make the most of what time i have with family and friends. My condition is particularly rare and as such the doctors are genuinely not sure how long things will last. A bone marrow transplant has been ruled out for now as being too risky. When i relapse, during the treatment then they will attempt a transplant at that time and simply hope for the best. Generally speaking, from what we have been able to find out about the illness, without intervention (bone marrow transplant) the life expectancy is about 5 years. I am 2 years into that window and well overdue for a relapse.
As such, the aims for this little venture have polarised somewhat. I really want to leave my baby boy with something tangible to shape his future and give him a small window into his past. In a perfect world, I will be the one who teaches him the importance of work ethic, measure twice cut once, dont put your finger in there, righty tighty lefty loosey... But we dont always get a perfect world.
And, as a worst case scenario, i leave my son with a "legacy"... a small well equipped workshop that his old man left him so he could discover a love of creating and share something with the dad he didnt get to spend too much time with.
So i would like to leave my son with a garage full of tools and equipment to help him if he chooses to explore mechanical adventures as he grow. Something that allows him to set his mind on something and have the tools available to make it happen. Normally this would be something that could be accumulated over a life time, but my time frame is somewhat limited.
I am 35, and was almost through my apprenticeship as a metal fabricator/welder with Kolmark Engineering in Westbury. This was a trade I chose due to a passion for creation and physical work. I started very late as you can see lol, but i simply adored my job as a stainless steel fabricator and creating things is a true passion of mine. The illness and associated treatments have left me physically damaged on a massive scale, i require help walking, im on constant immunosuppressants, blood levels mean I am very lethargic and small things take a very long time to achieve. I have been incredibly lucky with some of the complications, and the side effects could have been so much more horrible than they have been. But several strokes, several operations, long term chemotherapy and traumatic episodes have all impacted on my ability to function to some degree. As you may notice, I tend to ramble a bit.
Anyways, thank you so much for taking the time to read my story, and Donation or not, please consider sharing this story as far as possible.
Then, in September 2014, I was struck down with severe and life threatening illness. It took some time, but i was eventually diagnosed with HLH. An extremely rare disease reminiscent of leukemia. A combination of disease and side effects of treatment left me unable to move, multiple organ failure and on a respirator unable to breath for myself. Through a 6 month hospital admission and with extensive rehab since, I have been able to get some semblence of a life back. I still have some trouble walking, my legs dont really follow instructions that well, I am muscularly much weaker than normal and suffer concentration issues associated with strokes. But I am able to function on a surface level.
During this adventure, my son was born. He has spent most of his young life accompanying myself to the hospital. He is a beautiful boy with a great temperement and we are truly lucky with how wonderful he is. I am most grateful for the rehab that has allowed me to be capable of playing with my son. At the time of his birth I was not able to sit up for more than an hour at a time, and was not allowed to be present during the birth for fear I would somehow fall ill. I desperatley dont want my illness and disability to shape how he grows. So being able to play with him, as hard as a fun 2 year old can be to keep up with, is a huge gift.
I was recently given the news that my ongoing treatment will be aimed mainly at quality of life for the remainder and urged to make the most of what time i have with family and friends. My condition is particularly rare and as such the doctors are genuinely not sure how long things will last. A bone marrow transplant has been ruled out for now as being too risky. When i relapse, during the treatment then they will attempt a transplant at that time and simply hope for the best. Generally speaking, from what we have been able to find out about the illness, without intervention (bone marrow transplant) the life expectancy is about 5 years. I am 2 years into that window and well overdue for a relapse.
As such, the aims for this little venture have polarised somewhat. I really want to leave my baby boy with something tangible to shape his future and give him a small window into his past. In a perfect world, I will be the one who teaches him the importance of work ethic, measure twice cut once, dont put your finger in there, righty tighty lefty loosey... But we dont always get a perfect world.
And, as a worst case scenario, i leave my son with a "legacy"... a small well equipped workshop that his old man left him so he could discover a love of creating and share something with the dad he didnt get to spend too much time with.
So i would like to leave my son with a garage full of tools and equipment to help him if he chooses to explore mechanical adventures as he grow. Something that allows him to set his mind on something and have the tools available to make it happen. Normally this would be something that could be accumulated over a life time, but my time frame is somewhat limited.
I am 35, and was almost through my apprenticeship as a metal fabricator/welder with Kolmark Engineering in Westbury. This was a trade I chose due to a passion for creation and physical work. I started very late as you can see lol, but i simply adored my job as a stainless steel fabricator and creating things is a true passion of mine. The illness and associated treatments have left me physically damaged on a massive scale, i require help walking, im on constant immunosuppressants, blood levels mean I am very lethargic and small things take a very long time to achieve. I have been incredibly lucky with some of the complications, and the side effects could have been so much more horrible than they have been. But several strokes, several operations, long term chemotherapy and traumatic episodes have all impacted on my ability to function to some degree. As you may notice, I tend to ramble a bit.
Anyways, thank you so much for taking the time to read my story, and Donation or not, please consider sharing this story as far as possible.
Organizer
Pat Dennis
Organizer
Bishopsbourne TAS
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