Anyone who knows James (Woody) knows he has always been fit and athletic. Since childhood, he played football for Darley Dale Juniors and has enjoyed lots of success whilst playing for both Youlgrave United and Rowsley 86 as an adult. Since hitting his 30s, he has continued keeping fit - enjoying family hikes, early morning runs and in more recent years cycling - thinking nothing of riding 30-50 miles on a Sunday morning. For James, like many of us, exercise is more than just about keeping fit. An early morning run or cycle does as much for his mental health and well-being as it does for anything else. This page is an attempt by friends and loved ones to raise some money for him and his family. After spending a month in hospital, Woody is finally at home, but unfortunately - due to the severity of his condition - will lose fingers, toes and possibly his feet. It’s going to be a long road both physically and mentally, but we want to give him the best shot at getting back out there. Whether it’s physio, prosthetics, therapy or modifications to his home and exercise equipment which enable him to move around more freely, we want to help.
 Over the next few months, those close to him will be embarking on various physical challenges in an attempt to raise money. 

We’re exercising so that one day Woody can too. We’ll share the link to this page along with the hashtag #sowoodycantoo 

Please don’t feel like you have to give a lot. A pound. Whatever. It all helps. We’re also encouraging people to get involved. If you know Woody and want to help, share the link to this page to your socials and, whilst you’re out exercising - use the hashtag #sowoodycantoo Most of you will know his story by now. If you don’t - please keep reading. Strep A and sepsis can be deadly, and the more awareness we can spread of the signs and symptoms, the better. James’ Story: After feeling unwell on Sunday 26th February and spending the day in bed with flu-like symptoms and a sore throat, his condition quickly deteriorated. Feeling cold and restless, struggling to sleep, he decided to run himself a bath in the early hours of Monday morning in an attempt to warm himself up. Luckily, the sound of the water running woke his wife, Linsey, who - after one look at him and noticing his yellowish appearance - immediately called 111. After explaining James’ symptoms, an emergency ambulance was sent. On arrival of the paramedics, they checked James over and suspected sepsis. Within minutes, he was blue-lighted over to Chesterfield Royal Hospital and rushed straight to resus. Linsey arrived with him and the consultants explained that James was extremely poorly and that his body was shutting down on him. He was experiencing multiple organ failure - his kidneys and liver had already stopped working and his blood pressure was dangerously low due to the sepsis. His body was going into septic shock. James’ mum, dad, brother and in-laws all rushed to be by his side (where they’ve remained throughout this entire ordeal) and within hours of being admitted, he was put into an induced coma. James’ organs were all being supported by machines; he was on a ventilator that breathed for him; dialysis to work for his kidneys; and on medication to support his blood pressure. Antibiotics were also being used to try and treat the sepsis.
 His blood results came back and suggested that his condition had been caused by Strep A. 

 A liver transplant was being considered; however, due to his body being so unstable and it being too risky to transport him within the hospital, it was left to the machines to save him. James was described by NHS staff as being one of the poorliest patients in the country with the odds of survival stacked firmly against him. Hour by hour, updates were given to his family with doctors and nurses working on him through the night.
 The first 48 hours of being in intensive care were crucial to James’ recovery. Doctors and nurses did everything they could for him, with the term ‘We’re throwing the kitchen sink at him!’ being used regularly. They did everything they possibly could and as a result his life was saved. Gradually, after 10 days of being on life support, day-by-day his body would begin to get stronger. He was weaned off the blood pressure support, the dialysis and eventually, following several sedation breaks - the ventilator. This was a huge moment as it meant family and friends could finally get some contact back from him. His eyes began to flicker and then blink; he raised his eyebrows. Each day, he was getting stronger and he was soon nodding his head, moving limbs and becoming more aware of the people around him. Thankfully, he had no brain damage when he woke up and, once he was strong enough to breathe by himself, he was removed off the ventilator altogether.
 After spending a month in hospital, James is now at home and, although sleeping downstairs and having daily visits from community nurses, is back with his family where he belongs. Family were told that if James hadn't been as young and fit as he was, he wouldn't be here today. Two years ago, he was diagnosed with a heart condition - cardiomyopathy (Laminopathy) resulting in him having an implatable defibrillator and pace maker (ICD) fitted in December 2022. In the short period of recovery between having it fitted and contracting Strep A, he had worked hard to build his fitness back up - cycling 30 miles (a personal milestone in his recovery) the Sunday before being rushed in. Due to the sepsis infecting his ICD. Consultants agreed that there was no choice but to remove it. Luckily, the surgeon was able to do this during his month in hospital. Once his body is stronger - a new one will be fitted. Due to the severity of the sepsis affecting him and as a result of the medication used to save his life (the medication prioritised the blood flow to his vital organs) he has suffered damage to his hands and feet and he is likely to lose the majority of his fingers to his knuckles, toes and it is still a waiting game to see if his feet can recover. 

With the aide of crutches and a zimmer frame, James is walking to the bathroom and is pushing himself each day to move further. James has been overwhelmed by the messages of love and support he has received and is determined to be fit enough to get back on his bike and enjoy the park with his girls whilst watching them grow. 

Words cannot describe how indebted he is and will always be to the doctors and nurses who saved his life and have helped him so far with his recovery. A message from James’ wife, Linsey:
 We honestly cannot thank everyone enough who has played a part in saving James’ life and his recovery. The NHS staff. From the ambulance crew when they arrived (Fearn &amp; Gary) - they were fantatsic! To all the resus staff, the ITU nurses and doctors who were just a different level. They not only saved James’ life but they kept us all going too &amp; supported us throught his journey in intensive care. All staff who have continued with James’ rehabilitation from there on have also been amazing. We are just so overwhelmed with the care he has received. 

James is very optimistic about the future and grateful to be alive after all he has been through. He now has the chance to see his children grow up, which at the darkest of times we didn't think this would be possible. He is showing incredible positivity and is determined to carry on doing the things he loves to do.
 If you’ve read this far - thank you. Being aware of his situation will help him in more ways than you could know.

gaurav arora

james wright

Megan Adams

Ryan Hodgkinson

Chris Needham

James Bacon

Sophie Abbott

Emma Wray

Anonymous

Mr Richard I Bright

Claire Raisin

Leanne Marsden

Nicholas Birds

John Flower

Scott Goodwin

Woody

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

currencyCode

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

writePath

Stream Notification

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

Native 11.3.0 and above

Influencer - Prod

US fundraisers and US users

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Enter your donation forWoody