Bring John Home

John Upton - Bring John home Appeal

 

How the course of John’s life changed in a single day.

John is 45 years old and was born and raised in Larchville, Waterford.
John is the youngest of seven siblings. John and I have a 17 year old daughter, Sarah. John is a bubbly character and passionate about family, friends and sport, in particular hurling and football – Man United supporter unfortunately for some! Full of heart and always there to do a good turn. He is great company, a very sociable person and has a great sense of humour. Anyone that would know John would describe him as a true gentleman.

 

Health Changes: What Happened?

On the 20th of December 2019, John came home from work with a bad headache, which was very unusual for John as he was rarely sick or ever complained. The headache that John was experiencing became severe, to a point where he couldn't bare it, so we immediately called an ambulance and went to UHW. Where they discovered John had a blood clot on the back of his brain stem, which was in a very tricky place. We were then rushed to Beaumont hospital in Dublin. On arrival, John was critical. While trying to remove the clot, there was a rupture and John had haemorrhaged. After numerous surgeries, months in intensive care and high dependency units, John was eventually shifted back to Waterford. During this time, we were told on a number of occasions the prognosis wasn’t good and he may not pull through. But in fact, he did and John was moved to Clarenbrigde in Galway where they specialize in brain injury, then later onto NRH Dun Laoghaire where he is currently receiving extensive rehabilitation treatment. John has fought every step of the way, and broke boundaries in relation to his recovery.

 

Ongoing Care:
John's time in NRH Dun Laoghaire is soon coming to an end and John will have to return to Clarenbrigde in Galway as there is no specialist facility closer to home for John’s needs. At present, John cannot access the house as it will not accommodate his wheelchair. This breaks my heart as John needs to return home as soon as possible. I fear for John’s mental health as he is so homesick. John has now spent over a year of his life fighting and trying so hard to make it home, but John’s injury impacted a very specific part of the brain stem which means he is confined to a wheelchair; he has limited mobility from the chest down. He has limited use of his hands. John’s condition deteriorated and a tracheostomy had to be put in which meant he couldn’t eat or drink, this impacted on John and I was told while John had the tracheostomy in, he would never be able to come home and that we would have been looking at long term residential care. Thankfully speech and language persevered with John and after a few weeks of rehab in the NRH, the tracheostomy finally came out. This was a huge relief to us as this meant we could take him home. After having the tracheostomy in for such a long period of time, John had to relearn abilities such as speech and swallow. John is constantly improving but he needs assisted food consumption.

 

Transform our home for John’s Care Set (House changes & Care Cost)

Our home will have to be adjusted to facilitate John's needs.
When his family home was built there was no wheelchair accessibility regulations etc. so we really need to reinvent the entire living space to give John access, mobility and some independent quality of life with 24 hour care. There is significant in-house equipment required as well as major building work and room alterations required in the house. These will include wet rooms, specific equipment, and totally reconfiguration of the access to the house for a specific size and shape wheelchair for John. While this is a major adjustment for John, myself and Sarah, the promise of getting John home has been instrumental in his recovery. This project is about enabling John to live as full a life as he can while learning to adjust to his new reality.



What would it mean to have John Home?

Myself and Sarah love John dearly and miss him so much, as does his brothers and sisters. Spending over a year apart from John has been the most difficult journey we have ever experienced. John most certainly deserves to be home. Coming home has been a huge motivating factor in his recovery and having the right environment, care support, love of his family and company of his friends will again improve his wellbeing and further recovery.

I have set up this Go Fund Me on behalf of his family  to assist John on his recovery. This is where we ask you the public to help us ensure that John can come home were he needs to be. You can help, and no matter how small or large your contribution is, Thank You from the bottom of our hearts, You have no idea what it means to bring John home to his family. Help us to bring John to where he wants and needs to be- in his own home.