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Let's help John Hitchens move again!

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On the 28th of August 2020, in the early hours of the morning, John and Jess Hitchens, with  their 2 boys Max (8) and Jonah (5) set off to Kenilworth on what was to be a weekend of camping and dirt-bike riding family adventure. Later that morning a tragedy was to occur that will change the way this beautiful and tight knit family will operate for the rest of their lives.

After setting up camp, John and some other dads set off on their bikes through the bush. An experienced and skilled rider, while travelling only slowly, he caught his handlebars on a branch, throwing him over them and into a tree. Leaving him lying motionless on the trail, John was immediately aware that something was terribly wrong.

If it wasn’t for the forward thinking of a fellow rider and mate who used his EPIRB to dispatch an emergency helicopter John would likely not be with us today.

Jess and the other campers, fearing the worst, rushed by car to the Princess Alexandra Hospital just in time to see John, before he was whisked away for life saving surgery.

The amazing orthopaedic surgeons worked tirelessly to remove the shattered and broken bones in John’s neck and stabilise it with a metal cage. The surgery took a gruelling 7.5 hours from start to finish. The following few days they performed a second operation to attach metal rods to the cage in his neck, to stabilise the other vertebrae. 

Despite all of this the outlook is grim. John has movement in his head, shoulders, and some bicep movement, but having broken his C3, C5, and shattering his C4, the surgeons believe there is a 99% chance he won't walk again.

John is now in the spinal injury ward at the Princess Alexandra Hospital where in the midst of COVID visitors are strictly prohibited. He begins his rehabilitation journey without his family by his side, which will see him stay under hospital care for the next 6 - 18 months.

Jess and their boys now face the foreseeable future without their husband and dad around. John, a terrific and hard-working plumber was also the sole breadwinner for this family, and without the income he provided, they must also endure a financial struggle ahead.

While the NDIS scheme will thankfully provide essential services, such as house modifications, they do not provide a suitable  wheelchair access vehicle. 

Our goal is to raise $98,000 - the purchase price of such a vehicle, suitable for John and his family. The sooner we can achieve this, the sooner John and his family can get together and enjoy some of the world together again. So please don't wait! Any contribution that you can make would be amazing! It will be appreciated so much by John, Jess, Max, Jonah, and all those that love him. Let's help John move again! Thanks so much for your time and generosity.
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Donations 

  • Anonymous
    • $50 
    • 3 yrs
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Organizer

Jessica Hitchens
Organizer
Logan Reserve QLD

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