Hi, my name is Benjamin Tobi.

I am a 21 year old youngman from North Holland who desperatley wishes to live a normal life without constant pain. Before my symptoms became so extreme I use to be a very active outdoors sort

of person; for years I played basketball,football amongst other sports, all of which I miss tremendously.

I have big dreams to help people within the disability community through finding creative ways in which this can be achieved, such as adapting transportation to fit their individual needs.

Unfortuantley i have been struggling for the last 5 years to function in society like other young men my age, I despertaley want to contribute to society and I have big dreams for my future. Sadly I am now struggling to even complete my studies and work; the extreme pain and fatigue now stops me from not only functioninng day to day but also from reaching my goals and dreams. .

I am fundraising for my surgery; tethered cord release with a spinous process divice,

this means they will cut my tethered cord and place a stability device in my spine.

The surgery is expensive and my insurance will not cover the costs because the condition is not understood well in adults in the Netherlands; unfortunatley the knowledge and experinece is missing due to the rare nature of this condition in adults.

If anyone can help in any way at all whether that be donations or helping run fundraisers within your own community on my behalf, I would be most grateful as will my family who just want their active, fun, pain free, functioning son back and to make many more happy memories together.

The date of the surgery is booked for September 9th 2022 but I must travel to spain on the 5th to allow for pre operative testing. The surgery will be performed in Barcelona by a neurosurgeon who has many years of experince in Tethered Cord release especially in young adults such as myself.