Hi everyone, my name is Phoebe, I’m 29 years old and I am reaching out to you today out of absolute necessity. My health, my career, and my independence have been completely ruined by years of medical negligence and raging disease, and I desperately need your help to get my life back through private medical care.

In 2019, I was diagnosed with Psoriatic Seronegative Inflammatory Oligoarthritis. For years, I was treated by an NHS rheumatology team. The medications never worked properly, leaving me in excruciating pain, unable to work, and often unable to leave my house or care for myself. For the past four years, both of my legs have been permanently bent. The agony was so severe that my GP had to prescribe tramadol and liquid morphine just so I could survive the days. Time and time again, I begged my NHS consultant and rheumatology team for knee scans or investigations. Every single request was denied. They repeatedly brushed me off, telling me it was "just how the disease works" and that the stiffness was normal so spent every spare penny I had and saved up on private osteopath and physiotherapy sessions, as well as a psychiatrist to help with the mental load of being so physically incapacitated, all the while being medically gaslit into thinking this is “normal and acceptable”.

Finally, on April 10th 2026, I managed to see an orthopaedic surgeon who took the first X-rays of my knees in seven years. What he found was horrifying. The cartilage in both of my knees is completely gone. That is why my legs are permanently bent and frozen in pain. The doctor admitted he had never seen scans this severe in someone my age. He told me that if the NHS team had simply monitored me and listened to my pleas years ago, a simple hydrogel treatment could have potentially saved my cartilage and maintained my mobility.

Instead, because I was neglected, my only option left is a double knee replacement. Because of my young age, these joint replacements will wear out and need to be redone every 10 years. Due to the bone loss from repeated surgeries, the doctor delivered the ultimate devastating news: this path will ultimately end in an above-the-knee double amputation.

I am physically and mentally broken. I lost my career, my quality of life, and now I face a future of repeated high-risk surgeries and eventual amputation—all because a medical team refused to give me a simple X-ray.

I have completely lost faith in the NHS’ ability to perform the surgeries safely. I cannot trust them with my body or my future anymore. I am launching this fundraiser to pay for private orthopaedic consultations, advanced testing, and private surgery. I want a second opinion from private specialists who will actually look at my case with care, explore alternative preservation treatments, and perform my surgeries safely without the dangerous delays of the public system.

I want my life back. I want to stand up straight again. I lost my entire 20s to this disease, trapped in my house when friends and peers were out living, I couldn’t often join them. I would love to be able to live a bit again, enjoy my 30s maybe.

Any donation, no matter how small, will go directly toward my private medical fees and rehabilitation. If you cannot donate, please share my story.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.