Asking for help is something difficult to do, but sometimes it's necessary... If you're reading this, thank you for sparing me your time...

My mum is one of six children. My grandparents, Harry and Pauline Sunderland, had a son first, John, and then five daughters, Sally, Karen (my mum), Deborah, Nicola and Jayne. We have always been an incredibly close family and amongst those siblings there has been and always will be, incredible relationships and treasured memories. We're a very lucky family.

However, last year my beautiful Aunty Jayne, the youngest of the siblings, was diagnosed with terminal cancer and all of our lives changed forever. A reality that sadly many families have to face, but made all the harder with Covid restrictions and lockdowns. We made the best of things, technology was a godsend, but it was a hard time with inevitable missed opportunities and memories that could not be made. Sadly on the 24th of February this year Aunty Jayne, aged just 53, lost her battle and gained her wings. I'm not sure that's fully sunk in for any of us just yet.

Aunty Nik, known to many people as Nikki, and her children live in the Isle of Man, they have done for about 13 years, with Aunty Jayne and Uncle Andrew's house being their home away from home. Having received the devastating news about Jayne they booked their travel, threw some things in a bag and arrived here on 25th February to support and be supported by their family and make arrangements for her baby sister's funeral. A few weeks were spent making arrangements, we laughed, we cried, we planned, everything you'd expect and Nik was heavily involved in the planning and all was as well as it could be.

However, a week before Jayne's funeral date Nik very suddenly felt extremely unwell with excruciating tummy and chest pains. An ambulance was called and she was taken to the Conquest Hospital. It quickly became clear that all was not well and she deteriorated rapidly. She was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis and was placed on a ventilator in an induced coma, to let her body rest and fight. Within three days of admission to hospital she was on full life support, fighting for her life. She spent five weeks in intensive care, during which she underwent a tracheotomy, and things were very touch and go for a long while.

Before being put on the ventilator and into the coma, Nik knew that she would miss Jayne's funeral, it was inevitable, but incredibly hard for her to process, and for us too - having her missing from the funeral - when we knew we were at such risk of losing her too - was an additional blow to our already grieving family.

But those of you that know her, know that Nik is a tough cookie and she fought hard and gradually improved. She left hospital (for the first time!) after 8 weeks. Sadly however, her recovery was difficult and slow, with three further spells in hospital for essential treatment, including blood clots on her lungs. The last stay culminated in emergency, life saving abdominal surgery two weeks ago. This has life-long implications for Nik, but she is recovering well, gaining weight and strength again and we are now hopeful and more confident that she is at last on the road to recovery. The staff and care that she received at the Conquest Hospital have been amazing, saving her life twice and for that we are immensely grateful.

However, Nik has received an added and unexpected blow. As a resident of the Isle of Man, she has always known that there is a reciprocal agreement that covers any medical treatment she may require when visiting home. Unfortunately, what she did not know, is that it was limited to three months from the date of arrival. This means that although her first spell in intensive care was covered, her subsequent stays, treatment and operation were not, resulting in a massive bill for the essential care that has saved her life. This is of course devastating for her. She has now been extremely unwell for four months, too ill to work so is now on very reduced pay, and not well enough to travel home, but having to continue to pay for her home in the Isle of Man.

As a family, we are not disputing the bill at all and have only praise for the NHS who have done so much to keep her with us. But it does leave us with a terrible dilemma. As a close family, we feel the burden is ours to deal with together, but the last year has been difficult for everyone, and none of us are in a position to pay the bill for her. We can all contribute what we can, but we are left in the uncomfortable position of needing to ask for outside help. With Nik's future health and abilities uncertain still, we do not want her to have this bill hanging over her for years to come. The bill is currently in the region of £20,000. We hope that she will not require any further treatment before she is well enough to look after herself and travel home, but of course we can't be sure.

If you are in a position to help with a contribution, however small, it would mean so much to my family.

Thank you for bearing with me if you have made it to the end.

Jo xx