Kaydn's Story - My friend gave me Drano - Please help!

I'm 49 years old and I have a new hero. And he's 17.

His name is Kaydn Phillips, and on Friday 12 April 2024, Kaydn’s life was changed forever.

Kaydn was out at a friends house, when one person in the group decided it would be “funny” to give Kaydn drano to drink as a prank.

YEP YOU READ THAT RIGHT – DRANO.

What followed was perhaps one of the most scary and also heroic stories of my life. That night, Kaydn was in the most unbearable pain of his life immediately after the incident, no one called an ambulance and they let him leave to make it home, where he then laid in bed from 1am to 5am. At around 5am, his mum discovered him lying in bed in agony with his mouth swollen so badly he was unable to talk. In those early hours of the morning Kaydn was treated by 2 ambulances at his home in Brisbane, where his mother Bindi was just an innocent bystander who could do nothing to ease the debilitating pain her son was going through. Kaydn was rushed to hospital with severe chemical burns and possibly life-threatening injuries to his mouth, throat, oesophagus and possibly his stomach.

Kaydn lives in Paddington, Brisbane with his single mum Bindi and his younger brother Oscar. He is a year 12 student who is doing his best to make it in a world with very few resources.

Bindi is an amazing human and one of my best friends in the whole world. That is why I have set up this Go Fund me page. Bindi has a yoga studio in Paddington and is an amazing masseuse and yoga instructor who works 7 days per week just to make ends meet.

Over the past few years Kaydn has been working regularly to help his mother financially. With the rising cost of living and rent increases he has seen his mum’s struggles just to put food on the table.

Kaydn wants to become a successful screen writer and business owner and his film and television teachers say he has potential to thrive in this field.

NOW DUE TO A RANDOM ACT OF STUPIDITY KAYDN’S WORLD HAS BEEN COMPLETELY HALTED.

He is very, very lucky to be alive. Although at times in the past few weeks he has wished to be dead due to the excruciating pain of the injuries.

He can’t eat.

He can barely swallow.

He is surviving on pain killers taken every 4 hours just to bring the pain to a 5 or 6/10.

It hurts to talk.

He can’t go to school, or study due to the strong medication clouding his mental state.

He is in constant pain and he is anxious and upset about his future.

An more recent endoscopy showed the damage to his mouth, throat, and additional damage to his oesophagus and now his stomach.

Once Kaydn is feeling better he hopes to use his film and television skills to tell the world about his situation and spread the message so that no other teenager finds themselves in his situation by a thoughtless prank that could have been deadly.

I've created this go fund me page to help Kaydn and his family simply survive this absolutely horrendous act. To help with the ongoing long term medical costs, including important mental health support for both Kaydn and his mum during this difficult time and moving forward. To ease the burden for Bindi as she has needed to organise casual staff to teach her yoga classes so she can be there for her son. Also to provide assistance with sourcing the freshest fruits and best protein powders to make nutritious and wholesome smoothies for Kaydn. And of course to support this young man to have something right now to look forward to – he has been saving for his first car but not being able to earn money currently, and he is trying very hard to build his hours up and the family are trying to afford diving lessons and yet through all of this trauma he is having to wait to make this happen. Now he is unable to even have driving lessons with his mum due to the medication and pain.

I am sure every parent of teenagers (just like me) absolutely shudder to think that this could have been our child.

When I told Kaydn I was going to set up this page he said “but I’m not that bad – there are a lot of people worse off than me” – and sums up Kaydn Phillips for me. Humble and caring.

And that is why he is my hero.

I hope that our wonderful community can help this little family in their time of need. It starts small. A simple act of kindness, but it can ripple out and create an ocean of prosperity in the world. A world that Kaydn still hopes to conquer sometime soon.

P.S. Please don't think that any amount of money is too small. Honestly, even $5 can make a difference. I believe there are enough people who will read this and care about Kaydn and his family and that with small acts of kindness, we will pass the goal easily.

Kaydn and his family could also do with some non-monetary assistance, so if anyone is able to part with the following items or has a business that can donate them please contact me via this page.

- Ice making machine (just a small domestic one) – sucking on ice assists with the ongoing pain and inflammation;

- Food vouchers – especially fresh fruit and vegetables;

- A laptop computer – the family are trying to make ends meet and have had 2 break-ins in a short time recently;

- Fuel, taxi or uber vouchers for his mum to take him to and from medical appointments;

- Pharmacy vouchers to assist with the ongoing medical needs of Kaydn;

- Gym vouchers or memberships so the Kadyn and the family can begin to work on health and strength to recover from such an ordeal...