Dells Story
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Any donation no matter how small is greatly appreciated!
Everyone who knows dell will agree, that he is an absolute gentlemen, he has a heart of gold and would give you the clothes off his back to help you. Lets please help get Dell back on his feet, anything that you donate would mean the world to Dell and all of us who know him
Lets get Dell home.
Here's his story.
I grew up in Dublin, but left at sixteen after my mum died. She was a chronic asthmatic. She would go into hospital for a month, then come out for a month, then go back in for another. She couldn’t walk from this wall to the next. She was on a nebuliser constantly. Then she got pneumonia. She was so ill with it. I remember the day. 10th May, twenty-four years ago. She looked at me and said, I’m dying son. There was no oxygen getting to her brain anymore. Before I knew it, she was gone.
Everyone who knows dell will agree, that he is an absolute gentlemen, he has a heart of gold and would give you the clothes off his back to help you. Lets please help get Dell back on his feet, anything that you donate would mean the world to Dell and all of us who know him
Lets get Dell home.
Here's his story.
I grew up in Dublin, but left at sixteen after my mum died. She was a chronic asthmatic. She would go into hospital for a month, then come out for a month, then go back in for another. She couldn’t walk from this wall to the next. She was on a nebuliser constantly. Then she got pneumonia. She was so ill with it. I remember the day. 10th May, twenty-four years ago. She looked at me and said, I’m dying son. There was no oxygen getting to her brain anymore. Before I knew it, she was gone.
It hit me hard, my mum dying. I was a mammy’s boy. Afterwards, I just packed a bag and went to London. I said goodbye to the world. Then I was on my own. I arrived in Piccadilly with a rucksack on my back, not knowing what to do. I didn’t think about what would happen. That’s how I first ended up homeless.
I stayed in London for two years, living in a couple of different hostels, then I decided to travel to Wales. I was planning to go home to Dublin on the ferry, but there’s nothing really left for me there now. I’ve got a sister, and I’ve got a dad, but even as a kid I was always one of these people who would go off and do their own thing, so I ended up staying here. I’ve been here ever since.
I was homeless off and on when I first came to Wales, but then I met a girl nine years ago and we got married. We had a beautiful son, and I went back to college and got a nursing degree. I loved my job so much. I was working for seven and half years in end of life and dementia care. I looked after my mum when I was younger, so I had some personal experience but nothing else. I just loved it. Working with people, often in the last couple of weeks they had left. Giving them hope and something to hold onto. I miss nursing terribly. I miss a lot of things terribly.
My partner didn’t know how much I was drinking. She knew there was something going on, but I hid it very well. She probably thought I was seeing somebody else, but I wasn't. I just started to forget everybody again. It was going on for a while, gradually getting worse over three or four years. I knew something was happening, but it just crept up on me. I should have spoken to her. If I’d have spoken to her then maybe things would have been different, but I didn’t. I didn’t speak to her at all. I was never unhappy with her. I just stopped giving her love and affection. I didn’t care about anybody but myself.
About a year and half ago, I had to leave. I got my own place and I was alright for a month or two, but I stopped going to work because of what could have happened. Dealing with medication and manual handling and things, I could have made a lot of mistakes. I never actually got sacked, which was a major thing for me. I just stopped turning up instead, but then I wasn’t able to pay the bills, and I lost my flat. All because of the drinking. That’s how I ended up back out here again.
When I came back on the street this time it’s been an eye opener just how many more people are homeless now. Lots of kids from the valleys with no local connection to Cardiff. They have reasons why they can’t go home, but they won’t help them here, so they end of up homeless. There are organisations that help them, one of them is hopefully helping me to find a flat, and they’re absolutely great, but it shouldn’t all be up to them.
I’m here there and everywhere at the moment. There’s an abandoned building I’ve been staying in with my mate. Lots of people know me. I usually sit around by the central bank. I just read my book and sit down. This kind of weather doesn’t help. When I have shelter at night time it’s fine, but during the day it’s no good. You can’t really avoid getting wet. You end up getting soaked and you’ve got nowhere to dry your clothes. Then you get sick. I was in hospital with pneumonia not too long ago. I don’t think you ever get rid of that properly.
I haven’t seen my son for so long, and that’s affected me quite badly. I want to see him, but I can’t because of my situation. I know I suffer from depression. That may have something to do with it, but I never spoke to anyone about that either. I hid it away from people. I just blocked everybody out. I want to get back to nursing, but not having anywhere to go, not having anywhere to live. I can’t work if I’m homeless. I need to try and get hold of life again and hold on tight, but I just don’t seem able to hold onto it tight enough.”
Dell. Cardiff
Organizer
James-Lee Collier
Organizer
