My name is Oli Benson and I am today launching this fundraiser in order to ask for and give the opportunity to those who wish to help with my recovery and rehabilitation.

For those who are not aware, since October 2023 I have been suffering from an injury which has caused me to live in chronic pain and under the cloud of various cocktails of painkillers. It has robbed me of my passion and my energy.

I will soon be receiving surgery and I look to gain every advantage for recovery and rehabilitation that I can; no matter how uncomfortable.

To give a full summary:

Experiencing pain and reduced mobility, I sought to self-treat what I felt was a hip flexor strain with stretching, exercise and OTC painkillers. In January 2024, the pain had continued to increase and I was assessed by the physiotherapist at my doctor's.

I was prescribed painkillers and given a physio regimen to treat a sacroiliac joint sprain. Following instructions the pain continued to increase and more physio assessments were undertaken. In March 2024 I requested imaging to confirm the injury. This request was rejected until July 2024 when assessed by a senior physiotherapist who suspected that my injury was not a sacroiliac sprain and requested imaging to confirm. By this point, my pain had reached a pinnacle and plateaued there.

My martial arts training had been reducing gradually over this time as I was not able to do much. Ultimately, it all but stopped. I could not roll, my footwork was clumsy, slow and uncertain. I could not use the skills I had spent so long trying to develop and I could not seek to improve.

An MRI taken in September 2024 confirmed that I had a herniated disc which was compressing the nerve root (L5-S1) shown in the picture.

I was then referred for a cauda epidural injection into the spine.

In December 2024, I experienced a change in symptoms as was send to the emergency dept. of my local hospital. A further MRI revealed than in addition to the L5-S1 issue, I have two further herniated discs in my neck at C4 and C5 (but crucially, no cauda equina syndrome).

At this time, I decided to reduce the classes I offered to my students to one day a week only. I could not manage any more.

In June 2025, I closed my school completely and abandoned my students into the more capable hands of my own teacher. I had not been serving them well for some time by virtue of my injury.

It was not until July 2025 that I received any treatment. This in the form of the cauda epidural injection. After a few weeks, the pain was improving and my mobility was returning. I decided to take some time off and focus on gradually stretching and exercising on Gran Canaria with the benefit of the sun and the sea.

At the start of that week, I could not reach my knees when bending at the waist. By the end of the week, I could touch the floor and do a full squat again. I could even do some reasonably low kicking. It was a remarkable relief. The pain was not gone, but it was enormously improved.

Regrettably, two weeks later the pain was returning. Gradually at first and then faster. By September I could only just reach past my knees when bending at the waist. I could only squat with support and my heels off the ground. I could not kick.

The injection had failed. It has been decided that there is unlikely to be benefit in repeating the injection, though this was my preference for more conservative treatment. Instead, I will require surgery. Fortunately, I was added to Salford Royal Hospital's Neurosurgery Dept.'s waiting list last year.

As of today, my pain is less than it was pre-injection. But it continues to increase, however slowly and it is constant and immutable.

Just last week, I met with the surgeon who will operate. I cannot say when this surgery will take place, but there is a chance that it will be this year. The surgery will involve disconnecting the nerve root from the disc and cutting away the aspects of the disc which are not where they are supposed to be.

It is an extreme measure, but one that has proven necessary. Recovery time will be 12 - 16 weeks. It is yet unclear whether I will make a full recovery, but it is by no means certain that I won't.

Throughout the last 2 years, I have taken >140 prescription pills per week. I have developed such a tolerance to codeine that it no longer has any effect. I have worn morphine patches that have burned my skin. I have cycled through neuropathic painkillers and taken the maximum dose of naproxen every day for nearly 2 years.

Most significantly, however, the painkillers have left me constantly exhausted and unable to rely on my mind, which has been clouded and dull. I forget names, places, words. This is to say nothing of the distraction that chronic pain provides. I have always taken pride in my work and have not been able to be proud of my professional performance for a long time.

I have suffered physically, mentally, professionally and financially.

When I was 4 or 5 years old, my teacher told me something that I have never forgotten: "life's hard; learn to suffer". I have never forgotten this and I grew up knowing that there is no use in complaining, one must simply keep calm, carry on and never ask for help.

I do not believe that this is true. For others. So, I am now pushing aside my flawed beliefs and asking anybody who wishes to contribute to a fund to be used for recovery and rehabilitation, including physio and complimentary therapies, time in the sun and in water to gain that benefit and potentially a rehabilitative retreat with structured treatment, subject to available funds.

For my part, I will try and put whatever level of recovery to good use and, I hope, some common good.

Thank you for reading. Whoever you are, I always appreciate your time.