Help Matthew MacInnis through his next chapter.

Hi there, my name is Craig Fair and I have the pleasure to be a life long friend of Mr. Matthew MacInnis. I am reaching out to gather funds to help Matthew navigate the next chapter of his life and to specifically help him and his family cover costs for the next while.

If you can, please take a moment to read below, and if after reading you are able to donate to a much needed cause, every amount helps. Big or small.

Matthew MacInnis's Story:

Five years ago Matthew MacInnis began a journey that he didn’t see coming. None of us did. No one could. Now, he needs our help.

Matthew has been living with type 1 Diabetes his whole life

2019 - Matthew was informed that he had Kidney Disease. His kidneys were functioning at 20%. He would need to start looking for a live donor for a transplant.

2021 - After a live donor had been acquired, preparations began to move forward when the doctors found a growth on one of his kidneys. He was informed that it was in fact cancer, so now facing a kidney removal instead of a transplant. Luckily the cancer was contained but now Matthew has one kidney functioning at 20% and must begin dialysis.

2021 - Matthew begins at home dialysis, which thankfully was available to him. Mountains of supplies are delivered to his place once a month and Matthew learns how to run this system every night for himself.

2021 - Matthew is informed that he now must wait to be cancer free for two years before he can attempt the kidney transplant again.

2022 - Matthew’s legs give out while walking to work. After weeks in the hospital, the doctors diagnose him with Guillain-Barré Syndrome. GBS is a rare neurological disorder in which a persons immune system mistakenly attacks part of their peripheral nervous system-the network of nerves that carries signals from the brain and spinal cord to the rest of the body. GBS begins suddenly and can increase in intensity over a period of hours, days, or weeks until certain muscles cannot be used at all. Matthew has now lost the strength, feeling and use of his legs.

With the aid of a walker Matthew spends the next year trying to build strength back. Fighting through this extremely long recovery period. Some improvement started to be seen and felt, but it was clear that Matthew was not going to have a full recovery from this awful autoimmune condition. Now he faces the reality of navigating all of the ailments mentioned above in this new physical state.

September 2023 - Matthew notices a cut on his toe. Unfortunately due to his type 1 diabetes and GBS, he has very little feeling in his feet. After examination he was told it is not infected and that a topical cream would take care of it.

October 2023 - Matthew is told at an appointment in the hospital that the cut is in fact infected and he would most likely lose the toe.

November 2023 - Matthew has his toe removed.

December 2023 - Matthew is admitted to the hospital once again with fever and severe abdominal, gastrointestinal issues. While in hospital treating this doctors realize that the infection that once was in his toe is now starting to travel up his foot. He is treated with powerful antibiotics. (For those who don’t know, infection in the body of one who suffers from type 1 diabetes is very dangerous)

March 2024 - Matthew has now been in hospital for 4 months. He is informed that the antibiotics are not working and that they would be amputating his foot, leaving a stump just above the ankle. After this surgery Matthew continues to be treated in hospital to stop any further spread.

April 2024 - 5 months in hospital. Matthew has continued to fight this infection, but the reality is - it continues to spread. He is informed they now have to amputate more of the leg, leaving the stump just below his knee in the hopes that this would allow him to still pursue a prosthetic.

June 2024 - 7 months in hospital. He continues to fight and navigate this new reality. Infection spreads to other parts of his body causing serious illness, fatigue and delusion. Matthew is informed that they must go higher with the amputation. Because of this a prosthetic is most likely not possible. He now faces the reality of never walking again, but this procedure is a matter of life and death. His 3rd amputation takes place.

August 2024 - 9 months in hospital. Matthew has now fought through enough and improved enough that he is released to a rehabilitation centre to begin the stages of taking on the next chapter. Living.

September 2024 - Matthew continues to still fight infection, and has been back and forth to hospital and the rehab centre, but there is a light at the end of this first tunnel.

NEXT: Our Help

It’s clear from reading the above of what Matthew is faced with in the next chapter. The money raised here goes directly to helping him navigate this new life. Helping him and his family create and maintain an environment that works for him to continue forward, become stronger and to heal.

1). Daily in home health care.

2). Redoing the family home so it is accessible for Matthew.

3). Mental Health Support.

4). General Support.

Please help our brother, son, nephew, uncle, friend. Everything helps even a small amount. Matthew has spent the last 20 years of his life working hard, creating magic, caring for the good of other people, making us all laugh continuously and always being there for his friends and family. It’s our turn to help him through this next stage in his life. He is loved. Let’s get behind it.

Thank you for sharing, and for any amount of donation you can give. It will go further than you can imagine.

With thanks

Craig.