Thank you all so much! We’ve raised enough to cover the urgent surgery Matt needs because of all you amazing people!! and it’s now being scheduled as soon as possible.

However, this procedure will only provide a seven-year battery life, so any additional donations will help support the next replacement in the future. We truly appreciate every contribution, also we just want to say just how much we appreciate your kindness and support. Thank you.

The Story

Hi everyone, and thank you so much for taking the time to read this.

We’re writing this for someone incredibly special to us — our friend/partner/Son Matt. If you know him, you know he’s one of the kindest, gentlest souls you could ever meet. He’s the type of person who will help anyone without hesitation… and now he’s the one who needs help more than ever.

Matt lives with a rare and debilitating condition called Gastroparesis, which means his stomach is essentially paralysed and cannot move food through the way it should. To survive day-to-day, Matt relies on a device called a gastric neurostimulator — a small piece of medical technology that acts like an artificial “engine” for his digestive system.

The Urgent Situation

This device sends gentle electrical pulses to Matt’s stomach, helping it contract and move food along. Without it, his stomach simply stops working. Anything he eats just sits there, unable to digest, and begins to ferment and rot. When that happens, Matt becomes violently and relentlessly sick.

On his worst days, he can vomit up to 90 times.

It’s painful. It’s exhausting. And it’s impossible to live a normal life without the stimulator working.

The stimulator is powered by a battery that should last 10–15 years, but because Matt’s device works so hard, his battery has only lasted seven. It is now in the red zone, and he’s been warned he has around one month before it shuts down completely.

When it stops, Matt’s ability to digest food will stop with it.

His specialist, Mr Kadirkamanathan, is the only surgeon in the UK experienced enough to treat this condition. He has kindly chosen to stay on past his retirement specifically to perform Matt’s operation, and he is willing to do the surgery under the NHS.

But there is a heartbreaking problem:

NHS England does not fund the replacement Battery of the gastric neurostimulator.

The battery replacement costs £15,000, and Matt must pay this himself.

Matt’s Words (13th November 2025)

“Today is a day I honestly didn’t think would come for years, but the battery is now in the red and within the month it will stop working. Mr K has turned it up to its max settings to try and give me one more good month, but after that… we don’t know what happens next.

NHS England still can’t justify the cost of replacing the stimulator, and with a £15,000 price tag, I won’t be getting a new one without help.

I don’t know what the future looks like from here.

All I can say is thank you to everyone who helped me get the last seven extra years I never thought I’d have.

There’s a lot I need to process, but for now, I’ll keep pushing on.”

Why We Need Your Help !!!!

We can’t stand by and watch Matt lose the one thing that allows him to eat and live with any quality of life. The £15,000 needed for this urgent replacement is completely beyond his reach, and time is running painfully short. If we’re fortunate enough to raise more than the immediate amount, every extra penny will go toward future replacements and ongoing care — ensuring Matt isn’t faced with this same terrifying situation again.

So we’re doing everything we can to raise the funds quickly.

How We’re Raising the Funds

• Whatnot Fundraiser Stream & GoFundMe

(Date may change to weekend after)

From the 5th December to the 7th, we are running a nonstop Whatnot stream to raise money for Matt’s operation.

We’ll be selling 500 tickets or doing cards individually, and we’re putting up our own personal Pokémon collections — including some incredibly sentimental items — because helping Matt matters far more than anything we own.

• GoFundMe Page

We’ve also set up this GoFundMe page for anyone wishing to donate directly, in any amount, big or small.

• Donating Cards

If you’d like to donate Pokémon cards to help with the fundraiser, we would be so grateful.

Just send us a message — we’ll organise everything with you. Every single card helps.

Join (help save matt) on Facebook to message for support

From the Bottom of Our Hearts

Thank you for reading Matt’s story, and thank you for caring.

we’re hoping — together — we can give Matt the chance he deserves.

Your support truly means the world.

Also I shouldn't have to write this but below I will explain why this is a life saving operation

The NHS won’t fund the machine, even though it's life-saving for Matt. Instead, they prefer to follow the steps listed below, which you’ll understand once you read why this machine is so essential.

Hi everyone,

It’s Louis here — I’m posting to help my friend Matt, because a lot of people don’t realise just how serious his situation is, or how different Gastroparesis can be from one person to another. Matt isn’t “just a bit unwell” — he’s been fighting a rare and extremely dangerous combination of severe Gastroparesis and Type 1 Diabetes for years, and right now he urgently needs help.

What People Don’t Realise: Matt’s Case Is Severe

There seems to be a misunderstanding online that everyone with Gastroparesis experiences it the same way — they don’t. Matt’s case has been extreme and life-threatening, and here’s what he’s been through:

He had 7 NJ Feeding Tubes

These are tubes that go through the nose into the small intestine.

Matt kept vomiting them up so violently that he tore his oesophagus.

Most people never have to go through this — but Matt did, repeatedly.

He then had a Jejunostomy Tube (J-Tube) surgically inserted

This tube goes directly into the small intestine, completely bypassing the stomach.

It provided the bare minimum nutrition — he couldn’t eat normally at all.

His next and final option would have been TPN

TPN (feeding through the bloodstream) comes with extremely high infection risks.

We tragically lost a close friend, Callum, who was also on TPN.

His body became too weak to fight an infection, and he passed away.

That’s the reality of how dangerous this condition can be — and it’s one of the reasons why we’re terrified of Matt going backwards.

The Neurostimulator Has Been His Lifeline!!!

With the stimulator, Matt has been able to avoid:

It has given him some quality of life and kept him stable.

Without it, those risks return immediately.

Why We’re Asking for Support

Matt never wanted to fundraise for something as essential as the device that keeps him alive — but there is no NHS funding for replacements. Time is running out quickly, and without help, his health will decline fast.

If you can donate, share his story, or offer support in any way, it genuinely could mean the difference between Matt staying safe… or facing a terrifying and dangerous downhill spiral.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and for supporting Matt.

It means more than you know.

— Louis

We’re also using this to push the NHS to reconsider its funding decision. Matt and Mr. K have been trying for years, and with all the attention from social media and the newspapers, we finally have a better chance. We’re trying to be a voice for the people who don’t have one