Restore quality of Life to a great soul and hardworking man

If you want a story about broken Britain and how our elderly are being treated then you will share this story. Let me start by saying this is not a dig at the wonderful people who do a great job, but the NHS is also broken.

I have a friend, Edmund Shanley, who is now 70 year old. I met this friend whilst working at the University of Warwick and I have been friends with him ever since. He is a hardworking, caring and selfless man who I have great admiration for. He has worked at the university since 1999 and has provided a great service to the people of the university, staff and students alike.

10 years ago he sadly lost his partner Rhona. She was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and Ed took care of her and loved her until the very end. He did everything for her and made her feel like the most special person in the world.

Since then Ed has had a very difficult time. He has battled with his own demons and struggled financially in some respects. Due to unforeseen circumstances, he now lives alone in a rented property, which he still relishes and is always positive. At the age of 70 still works and lives life to the fullest, fulfilling his passion for cars and motorbikes. He is a great lover of the outdoors and going for long walks. He is still a very active man who takes nothing for granted.

Now, my reason for doing this for a very good friend of mine is that he is in need of some help and support. He is not the type to ask himself so I am doing it for him. He doesn't have a deadly horrible disease or is in need of any major healthcare needs, he has a hernia. Doesn’t sound like much I know, but it is affecting his day to day life in such a negative way, and causing major pain and discomfort.

You may think, oh well it’s just a hernia, nothing too bad. However Ed is suffering in so much pain, he can’t do anything. He cannot go for long walks, he cannot ride motorbikes and more importantly he cannot work! Ed needs to work in order to have any quality of life. Without work, he is alone and unfulfilled.

So you are probably thinking why not just have a simple operation to remove it, so was I. I assumed that there would be a wait, but not to the scale I was imagining. He has had this hernia for around 6 months now, he has been off work for approximately 4 months. He will not get a consultation until June 2025. (Since writing this, Ed's appointment has been cancelled and moved to October). This is a consultation, not an operation. In total he will be waiting a minimum of 18 months for his operation. How is this possible?

Hernia operation takes approximately 1 hour and is a very simple operation, done either via keyhole surgery or under general anaesthetic. How and when was it acceptable to leave an elderly man in pain and discomfort for 18 months? How have we allowed our NHS to become so overrun, that a man who has paid his national insurance his whole life, cannot get some simple treatment?

Also to put in perspective, 18 months to someone my age of 36 may not seem that long, but to a 70 year old, time is precious. Ed has said to me several times during this, that he doesn’t have many summers left, maybe 10, who knows. And now he has to spend one of those summers curled over in pain, not able to move. It does not seem fair! It also is not right!

We pay towards the NHS in order to make it great when we need it most and it is failing him! It is failing our elderly community who just want a quality of life during times of hardship.

Ed will go down to half pay in February 2025, meaning that not only will he still be in immense pain, he will also be struggling financially. We have looked at all options, and are now left with one. Ed will need to pay for a private healthcare operation. This will cost around £4000, maybe more. This money, he will be taking out of his pensions and savings, leaving him financially broke. Doing this would allow him to get back to work, and will allow him to earn money again. However, how long will it take Ed to save and put back all the money he lost through having to pay for his treatment?

It is a horrible situation for him to be in and I feel deeply saddened that he has been let down by a failing national health service that he has contributed to for the last 50 years or more.

Ed has no idea that I am doing this because if he did, he would tell me not to. I have set up a go fund me page to try and help this great man get back to full health. I am not doing this out of greed, I am doing it to support someone who has never asked for anything in his life. I am doing it to help a man I look up to and admire. I am doing this to protect an elderly man's pension and savings. And I am doing it to highlight that the NHS is in need of some drastic changes!

The go fund my page will only be to cover the cost of the operation, no more. I will be aiming to put posters around the University of Warwick to try and gather support and funding for him and I would encourage anyone to give a little bit to help him. He has given 26 years of his life to the University, so if people could give him back a quality of life without pain for the next year, that would be an amazing achievement.

Thank you

Chris Ainge

Latest update:

Ed has managed to confirm a date for his operation. It will be 11th February and will cost him just over the 4k i am trying to raise. As I have previously described this will have a huge impact on him financially.

Why should a man who has paid national insurance his whole life, now have to pay for a simple operation, purely because the NHS wait times are so ridiculously long??

If he waits to have it done on the NHS he will not get a consultation until 31st October!! That's just the consultation, not an operation!

Even with Ed having this operation on 11th Feb, he will still go down to half pay for a few weeks due to recovery time.

Please keep sharing and thank you to everyone who is helping. Ed is so thankful and has been astounded by the support.

Update as of 12th Feb 25:

Ed has had his operation and it's looking very positive. He is home and recovering. At this point we have raised over £1400. This is incredible! I can't thank everyone enough for what we have achieved. Ed is so grateful!

Ed is still thousands of pounds out of pocket, not to mention the fact he will go down to half pay in a couple of weeks. If we could have one final push to raise some more, that would be incredible. Thank you all so much!