Hello my name is Jeremy and I am in a situation that because of the complications of a back injury that is resulting in other health complications that are now having impact in other areas of my life.

My story started back in August of last year (2020) when I was working as a baggage handler. On the particular day I was injured I was working by myself in the Bag Room due to shortage of workers, I was having a lot of large heavy suitcases come to me in a relatively short time. In the process I managed to injure my lower back. From the period of September to December I tried to recover from my injury by following medical advice and receiving physiotherapy. Unfortunately, by the end of December I found that because of my injury I was not able to walk any distance more than 50m at a time and I was restricted from doing any work. Like others with a back injury, I have unfortunately put on weight. The result of this excess weight is that I am now suffering from many additional health issues and these include hypertension, diabetes, sleep apnoea and of course causing damage to my knees due to the excess weight. If I continue with my present condition these conditions will worsen and the possible chance of other medical conditions can occur, I have been told by my doctors and surgeon that these problems if not addressed urgently will worsen to the point of a premature death. On top of this I was in the unfortunate position of being made redundant in early March this year from Qantas and last month the insurance company had decided that my current injury with my lower back is not the result of the injury at work. All of this has also added to me and my family a lot of stress and worries to the point that I am now needing to have assistance of a therapist to help with my mental health.

All of this is not only having an effect on me but also my family especially my oldest son who is autistic and is worried that he will lose a second parent as we lost his mother many years ago.

With this situation the only way forward according to my doctors to avoid further medical conditions and current conditions worsening to the point of premature death is to have a gastric bypass performed. My doctors are confident that once this procedure is performed, I will be able to improve my health and will be able to return to being a productive member of society in that I will be able to work again and not be reliant on assistance.

Here in the Northern Territory the procedure that I require is not available in the public system and thus I need to have it done via the private health system. The procedure costs in excess of $20,000.00 providing there are no complications requiring longer hospital stay and due to not being able to work and being made redundant I can’t even try to borrow money to have the procedure. That leaves me with the only possibility of asking you kind people to donate a few dollars so that I can become healthy again and that I will be able to take care of my Autistic son. I do find it very hard to ask for assistance but to those who are able to help I thank you very much in advance.