Lets give Adrian a hand!

Adrian a dedicated chef of 30 years had a life changing accident on Sunday 19th September when riding home from work. He crashed his bike and was transported directly to Addenbrookes hospital where they operated on his arm trying to save it. 4 surgeries down and they have had to amputate his right arm just below the elbow. Many more surgeries to come for extensive skin grafts to his arm and chest.

He is lucky to be here and he needs to adjust to life as a Lefty, not only has he lost his arm and hand, but as a chef he has lost his career and this was his passion along with motorbikes, he has never driven only ever ridden.

I reach out to all his friends, family and colleagues far and wide and anybody else that can help to get him back on his feet. He will need help and support for a long time and with no career to keep him going financially I am not sure how he will survive. Hopefully in time he will be able to be fitted with a prosthetic arm but this will never be able to replace the dexterity that he had with a full human hand.

Retraining will be an option in the future for him but for now he needs to concentrate on him and not where the next bill will be paid from.

Supporting him whilst in hospital isn't easy as it isn't just round the corner, but we are trying to get there as often as possible.

Once you have met Adrian you never forget him, he has always been a big personality within the kitchen and has made many friends over the years.

I asked a few people what they thought about him and these are some of the responses I got.

Quote from Lee his former head chef.

Adrian - a chef of many years,

Anthony Bourdain wrote in kitchen confidential you need a good sous chef to run a kitchen and Adrian always exactly that for me. A wealth of knowledge and a passion for flavour Adrian is game to try all flavours and ideas and would always tell you of it wasn’t quite right by reigning you in from some wacky ideas. Always the perfectionist and rock to rely on.

It’s going to take time for Adrian to adjust to his new life and without the work he loves so much needs as much help as possible. So a call to arms to all that Adrian has supported over the years.

Uncle Chris

I can actually say that I knew Adrian from a young age and has become a very accomplished man and even though I split from his Aunt he always treated me as part of the family which I feel very honoured .

Rob a work colleague

Adrian is a great man hard working and would do any thing to help you.

A message from me.

Adrian is a kind loving soul, sometimes misunderstood and he is my best friend. He has been in my life for 7 as my partner and for the last 6 months as my best friend, sadly we split but we are stronger friends because of it.

Everybody that knows him, loves him, he makes an impression on you that you can not forget, He is larger than life and always has a funny story or comment to make. he has a few passions in life but Food and being a chef was the biggest one followed by his love of bikes.

Both of these are now going to be very very hard and his life has changed beyond your imagination.

Something we do need to do is get his son over from France for a visit as soon as Adrian is up to it.

If we can raise a little to make his life easier in the future it would be wonderful, if we could even get him a specialist arm fitted in the future that would be even more than I could imagine. Lets get this started and please please help.