Hello my name is Sean and this GoFundMe page is to help my sick brother Justin and to raise awareness of his illness, which is a rare and incurable disease called STILLS disease (Adult Onset Stills Disease), which was discovered from a blood test back in 2013.

Justin was feeling sick and went to the doctor for a check-up. Next thing he was in hospital and no one knew what was wrong, but his white blood cell count was 41. It should be between 4 & 11. He got really sick!!! After about 2 to 3 weeks of being in hospital, it was suggested that Justin had STILLS disease. We had never heard of it before and the doctors didn't even seem to know what it was. The cause and cure are unknown. STILLS causes massive inflammation and eats away at your joints causing excruciating pain. Justin is only 44 years old and has had both hips replaced. Last week he had major surgery to replace the left shoulder joint which became infected and had to go back into hospital. He also needs to the right shoulder to be replaced.

It's now been 8 years since Justin first became sick and has not been unable to work, except for a short period in 2015 when he was in remission, unfortunately he fell sick again and has been in and out of hospital ever since. Justin was such a talented head chef but know he can barely hold the knife because of the inflammation in his hands and joints.

Vivienne is Justin's partner and they have a son Cooper (my nephew), who is now 11 years old. Vivienne is the sole income earner on a very modest wage. I have all the respect in the world for Vivienne, as it must be hard for her to. To see Justin going through this and then to be the sole provider for the family. She is definitely a strong woman.

I don't know if Cooper can even remember his dad not being sick, Cooper was 3. It must be hard for him too. Not knowing a time when his dad was normal and healthy. Missing out on the normal things that a young boy would do with your dad growing up.

Justin loved being a chef and cooking amazing food, fishing, go karting, motorbikes (he had to sell both to pay the mortgage), tinkering away in his garage on different projects, but he has been forced to give it all up, through no choice of his own.

As a family we are trying to do our best to help out and come up with new ideas.

This is not something we would normally do as we are a proud family, who wouldn't ask for help, but sometimes you just need to let the barriers down and reach out to people.

We are not asking for much, just enough to help them get on top of things for a while.

Thank you for taking the time to read Justin's story, any contributions would be greatly appreciated, otherwise please spread the word about STILLS disease and hopefully we can raise awareness of this horrible disease.

Yours sincerely,

Sean

Justin’s shoulder replacement

Post Op Surgery 1

Post Op Surgery 2 - wound is over 12 inches in length

Four days after surgery still in hospital being monitored

2015 - Justin in remission with Mum, Justin, Vivienne and Cooper