Hi. My name is Richard. I have a friend who suffered several traumatic injuries following an assault which left her with a dislocated jaw and some broken teeth. Consequently she was in hospital for a couple of months and was submitted to several surgeries to address life-threatening internal injuries. However, she was discharged without receiving any dental treatment but a referral to the oral and maxillofacial department was made, and she was placed on a liquid diet because it was impossible for her to eat solid food and it would take approximately a year to see a dental consultant. 14 months have now passed since the referral was made and my friend had not heard anything so she contacted the hospital requesting a follow-up. She was then informed that the oral maxillofacial referral was not showing up on the system and that not only a new one would have to be submitted, but also, the waiting time is now around 2 years.

Since the assault and up to now she is still on the same liquid diet, causing a negative impact on her overall health that was already fragile due to a rare autoimmune disease diagnosed when she was young. Consequently her immune system has been become weaker making it difficult for her body to fight the consequences of the lack of nutrients since she still can’t manage to have solid food. The longer it takes to address her dental problems the weaker she becomes. Accessing private treatment would allow for a much faster resolution, but unfortunately it comes with an estimated cost of between £10,000 to £12,000. As my friend is unable to work due to her increasing ill health as a consequence of the long waiting time for treatment, she has no way of raising this money herself so I am setting up this fundraiser in the hope that kind and generous people will be able to donate enough money so she can access the so much urgent and necessary dental treatment.