Help a dad with ALS fulfill a final wish

Hi all, my name is Anna and I am a mother to five children and a wife to a wonderful man named Mike. We were your average family, full time working parents, five amazing children doing well in school and life was a peaceful normal. 14 months ago we received devastating news, when my husband Mike was diagnosed with ALS.

ALS is a terminal illness that attacks and kills the neurons in the brain, effectively robbing a person of their normal bodily functions. All movement, speech, eating and breathing is taken away at a cruel pace. Life expectancy is 3-5 years years after diagnosis but this differs for each person with this disease.

Mike was walking, talking, eating, going to the gym, working, spending time with his kids and all things normal just last April. He used to enjoy going for runs and playing tennis with our older two children, and was a keen basket ball player. Gym was a frequent visit with friends to keep healthy and be able to keep up with our younger two who were six before everything changed. We loved family days out, swimming, cinema and making the most of spare time because mikes work kept him busy most of his days as he was a self employed worker in the computer business.

Mikes life has been nothing short of heartbreak as both his parents passed when he was a child, being taken in by family members. He made his way to the Uk in 2002 on his own at the age of 22 and shortly after I met him and fell in love. We started our own family in 2007 and had our last in 2016. Our life was definitely not perfect, but it was ours and we loved it.

Mikes health has rapidly declined these past 14 months and he can no longer walk, has no use of his hands, cannot keep his head up without support, has lost his ability to speak and can not eat solid foods anymore. Mike is gradually losing things we take for granted, something as simple as a smile or the sound of laughter. All communication is through a tablet that speaks for him. We have lost so much due to this disease and it has had a devastating effect on his mental health.

Mikes dream has always been to take his family to see where grew up, in Zimbabwe. To show his children where he grew up and to visit his parents graves but we have never had the means to do so as we are such a big family. Regardless, the was always the idea of “next year” but now that idea is gone as ALS is such an unpredictable disease, and a next year is not guaranteed anymore.

As time is not a luxury we have anymore, we would love to fulfill mikes wish of taking our children to Zimbabwe during their summer break but i cannot do that without help. Since mikes diagnosis, I have had to juggle more than what I ever thought possible as I am now raising our children without the shoulder of my husband to fall on, and I am now his full time carer. Having to juggle his care, specialist appointments, alternative therapies and daily physio.

The family income has been drastically affected as we are now on full benefits, something me and Mike never thought we would have to do. The money from this page would pay for our tickets, and other things necessary for mikes safe travel. Travel will become impossible if mikes breathing becomes affected so we are under a time strain as we don’t know how long we have.

Please help me make Mikes final wish a reality with any donations, I would be eternally grateful for any and all, it would mean the world to both me, Mike and our kids. Thank you.