Chair for Chris Powell
Please do not donate as we have reached are target!
I am pleased to announce that after The GoFundme page and private donations we have raised £9505! The chair is bought from Bruno for £7500 paid for by a donation of £6000 by A&M Wealth (the £1500 will be paid by the Gofundme money with the rest of the money paying the adaptations being done at All Terrain Wheelchairs where it is going to be fitted with the special seating Chris needs.
I would like to thank everyone who donated and shared this appeal you have helped Chris go that little bit further with his adventures!
I have shown below the quote for adaptations.
Thanks Paul
Hello , our names are Paul Foster & Abdi Jama please we are trying to raise £7500 for a powerchair that will change Chris life, take 2 minutes and read this letter. The money withdrawn will be put into the Chris Powell Fund then used to pay Bruno Hansen for the chair and then pay All Terrain Wheelchair for the adaptations.
We are 2 disabled men who want to help someone who has helped us for years get the chair he deserves.
I am a 47yr old disabled man who would like to raise enough money to change the life of someone who inspired so many people. My goal is to provide this person with the same Electric Power Chair which I'm so lucky to now own and has literally opened up a new world for me.
This is a picture of me in Anglesey with the new chair on the island where I have not been able to go for over 20 years, but can now because of this chair.
I can honestly say after using this chair for only a month I have been amazed on the difference it has made in the quality of my life not only opening up areas I have not been able to go to but also because of the low pressure tyres and suspension my skin on my bottom is so much better and because Chris and myself have to sit on specially made 5 inch air cushions that are not available in this country I feel Chris will only have beneficial results from sitting in this chair.
When I was newly paralysed in Southport Spinal Hospital I was finding it difficult to come to terms with being paralysed from the shoulders down, this is when I met Chris whom himself was newly paralysed following an accident involving farming machinery. He helped me more than anybody giving encouragement and showing me that there was a life to be lived and enjoyed after paralysis. Now I have a great life, I have 12yr old twins from a past relationship and enjoy everything I do, recently I purchased a special powerchair that has allowed me to do things that I have not been able to do in my normal powerchair for over 20 years.
Me and Chris with the grey hair in 2005
My name is Abdi Jama I too met Chris in 1997 when I was14yrs old and was injured falling from a window, Chris helped me so much as I was a child and everybody else were adults but Chris made sure I was ok and encouraged me to do things, this has contributed to me having a great life, I have been captain of Great Britain basketball, played as a professional wheelchair basketball player in a lot of different countries in the world and most importantly I got married and have a beautiful family. I know Chris will love this chair and I often go and see him at his house so I know how many more places he will be able to get to when he gets this piece of equipment. He is positive about life when most people in his situation are not, so I am determined to help get him this chair.
Me and Chris
Chris was injured following an accident on a farm involving farming machinery in 1997, he was completely paralysed at C5/6 resulting in no movement or feeling below the shoulders, he spent a year in Southport Spinal Hospital and quickly adapted to his new life that he was going to explore and experience, but soon after being discharged he was admitted into hospital where they had to remove his hip due to infection. This had a domino effect and over the next year he had to have his other hip out, this had huge consequences and from the 23 years he has been paralysed he has spent 18 of those confined to a bed through problems occurring due to having no hips. Now he has just had 2 pioneering operations at Southport Hospital that involved cutting his inner thigh in a cheese wedge shape and then like a patchwork duvet they cut the exact same shape out of his bottom and then stitched the thigh tissue into his bottom to produce a new bottom, this has been successful and after sitting on the new cushion he has been able to get out of bed for 3 hours a day which is a huge improvement.
Chris has kept dogs all his life and has just lost Micky his beloved Labrador which his carers have to take for walks but now if Chris could get one of these chairs he would be able to go for strolls along the Riverbank of The Lune, the 4x4 chair will enable him to go through the trails of the Lake District where he used to go as a child and as a young adult before his accident, but being able to replicate the walks with his step grandchildren that his parents did with him will only have huge mental and well being benefits.
Chris was always active and played for Morecambe Cricket Club U17’s & 2nd Xl, Then Caton Cricket Club. Played Rugby for Vale of Lune Colts. Then Football for Caton FC. He Swam for Lancaster & Lancashire and would love to go onto the local field to watch the teams he used to play for that have been a memory for him instead of a reality which this chair would be able to do.
I have known a lot of disabled people, but I know nobody who has such a positive attitude after a life that many would of given up on so I have taken upon myself to fund raise £7500 to get a nearly new chair for someone who has given so much to others and received nothing back and after what Chris has been through I can think of no one that deserves to experience the freedom that this chair gives better than him.
I then ask you, no I beg you to consider helping us in funding this chair for Chris.
Thanks so much for reading my letter and please consider helping us in totally changing someone’s life for the better.
Any contribution will be great help.
Kind Regards
Paul and Abdi
