Whilst this fundraiser is important to both of us, it's also very important that people don't put themselves out because they want to help. In the current financial situation, please prioritise yourself.

Hello, I am Shaira. I am helping secure funds for my friend Nico (Syntaxidermy), who is an ambulatory wheelchair user with multiple long-term disabilities. Unfortunately, their mobility has been steadily decreasing over the past four years due to an unknown cause of pain and no treatment options which have helped. The primary source of concern is chronic lumbar back pain, which means Nico can not walk or stand for longer than about 5 minutes at a time. Despite these issues and having reached out to their NHS GP for help with treatments such as physiotherapy and pain relief medication, they have been repeatedly denied treatment and access to services which could help, and have had no choice but to get into debt paying for private medical fees.

Following the horrible circumstances with NHS chronic underfunding of services and the decimation of our health system by the pandemic, they have tried taking private insurance to help with fees, but sadly, no insurer will cover pre-existing conditions. They are now seeking private medical help and thus have incurred costs of the healthcare that they deserve to have through the national services themselves. They deserve to live a life with dignity and respect, and this fundraiser is a cry for help in giving them a shot at living the rest of their life in the most manageable way possible.

I don't believe anyone should have to go through this alone, nor without proper help from services that should be there to investigate and treat health concerns. Though I understand the strain on the NHS and GPs, they should be kind and helpful without pushing back and being horrible. Nico has even had to switch GPs after they threatened to deregister her from the surgery for writing emails explaining their symptom timeline and requesting reconsiderations for referrals in an attempt to clarify their situation in a written manner.

The goal amount includes the cost of private medication, diagnostic imaging, including X-ray and MRI, as well as assessments with orthopaedic and neurospinal specialists, and 8 total follow-up sessions. Some budget would be to accommodate power chair use and adaptations if the initial medical costs are met, to help increase independence and quality of life.

Estimation of private healthcare costs in order of urgency:

£300 - Neurospinal assessment

£200 - X-ray

£250 - Orthopaedic assessment

—-------------------+£750—--------------------

£600 - 4x follow-up with orthopaedics

£600 - 4x follow-up with neurospinal specialist

—-------------+1,200—----------------------------

£250 x 12 - Private medications for 12 months

£800 - Pelvic/Spinal MRI

—-------------------+£3,800-------------------------------------

£1500 - low threshold door

£3000 - power chair

—---------Push goal: +£4,500—---------------

Total: 10,250

To help them walk again, please consider donating, and if you are unable to, please share, as a share can go a long way.