Save Kath & Andy's House
Donation protected
Save Kath & Andy's House
Kath has been looking after her husband Andy of 32 years, since he fell ill in 2013 and was diagnosed with a very rare condition called Spinocerebella Ataxia. This GoFundMe initiative was created by her family to help try and save her home and regain a quality of life for the both of them.
Since becoming ill Andy declined rapidly. Because his disease was so rare it took the doctors’ approximately 6 months to provide him with his diagnosis, during which time he was falling over for unknown reasons, in constant pain, frequent mood swings, and had a complete lack of coordination.
Andy went from a care free, happy bloke to someone who could no longer do active things he loved like going to Hull City matches with his son and friends, to simple things like playing games on his ipad. He rapidly became unable to hold things in his hands, could barely walk and as a result he had to give up his job. His wife Kath had to give up her job as a carer at a local residential home in the community, to become a carer for him at home. With no income, they became reliant on Personal Independent Payments, Carer’s Allowance, and Employment and Support Allowance to cover all household expenses including the mortgage and any additional care needs Andy had.
The family were scrapping pennies together as Andy’s health deteriorated, to provide him with the necessary medical equipment needed to maintain his quality of life in the house, with Kath as his full time carer. As Andy’s condition worsen, he could no longer verbally communicate, and his care needs grew beyond what his wife was able to provide at home anymore. Sadly Kath had to make the very difficult and emotional decision to move Andy into full time care at a nursing home. Being separated from each other has been a challenge amongst all of the obstacles they’ve overcome, as Andy nears the end of his life because of the disease.
Kath has lived through all of this with no complaints, sacrificing her life for that of her husband. Having watched her courageous, selfless nature over the past 4 years, her family has nominated her for a Hull Daily Mail Carer of the Year Award 2017 for which she’s recently been shortlisted for. This has been a light shining through a very dark tunnel as Kath’s struggles have only gotten worse as Andy’s moved into the nursing home. With a complete lack of social support now, his income can no longer pay for the mortgage on the house as it now has to provide payment for his nursing home. Kath stands to loose everything they’d built, the home they’d created for each other, where she raised their 4 children and 5 grandchildren with a 6th on the way any day now. The house is no longer suitable for a family because of all of the adaptations previously made for Andy, such as a lift to help Andy move from the ground floor to the first floor. As a family we’ve tried to come up with solutions to bring money in to keep up with mortgage payments but it’s extended beyond our means.
Kath is a very proud person and has never asked for any assistance from anyone but as a family we feel the need to step in and try to find the help that is so very much needed and very much deserving. Our goal is to raise enough money to pay off the mortgage and pay to have the medical equipment removed and building work paid for. Any help is greatly appreciated to save Kath’s house and help her rebuild the lives they once had before Spinocerebella Ataxia.
To find out more about Andy’s disease, we’ve found this website very helpful www.ataxia.org . Thank you for your support in advance. Please share our story with friends and family across the world to help raise awareness of this rare and debilitating condition and help Kath save her house.
Kath has been looking after her husband Andy of 32 years, since he fell ill in 2013 and was diagnosed with a very rare condition called Spinocerebella Ataxia. This GoFundMe initiative was created by her family to help try and save her home and regain a quality of life for the both of them.
Since becoming ill Andy declined rapidly. Because his disease was so rare it took the doctors’ approximately 6 months to provide him with his diagnosis, during which time he was falling over for unknown reasons, in constant pain, frequent mood swings, and had a complete lack of coordination.
Andy went from a care free, happy bloke to someone who could no longer do active things he loved like going to Hull City matches with his son and friends, to simple things like playing games on his ipad. He rapidly became unable to hold things in his hands, could barely walk and as a result he had to give up his job. His wife Kath had to give up her job as a carer at a local residential home in the community, to become a carer for him at home. With no income, they became reliant on Personal Independent Payments, Carer’s Allowance, and Employment and Support Allowance to cover all household expenses including the mortgage and any additional care needs Andy had.
The family were scrapping pennies together as Andy’s health deteriorated, to provide him with the necessary medical equipment needed to maintain his quality of life in the house, with Kath as his full time carer. As Andy’s condition worsen, he could no longer verbally communicate, and his care needs grew beyond what his wife was able to provide at home anymore. Sadly Kath had to make the very difficult and emotional decision to move Andy into full time care at a nursing home. Being separated from each other has been a challenge amongst all of the obstacles they’ve overcome, as Andy nears the end of his life because of the disease.
Kath has lived through all of this with no complaints, sacrificing her life for that of her husband. Having watched her courageous, selfless nature over the past 4 years, her family has nominated her for a Hull Daily Mail Carer of the Year Award 2017 for which she’s recently been shortlisted for. This has been a light shining through a very dark tunnel as Kath’s struggles have only gotten worse as Andy’s moved into the nursing home. With a complete lack of social support now, his income can no longer pay for the mortgage on the house as it now has to provide payment for his nursing home. Kath stands to loose everything they’d built, the home they’d created for each other, where she raised their 4 children and 5 grandchildren with a 6th on the way any day now. The house is no longer suitable for a family because of all of the adaptations previously made for Andy, such as a lift to help Andy move from the ground floor to the first floor. As a family we’ve tried to come up with solutions to bring money in to keep up with mortgage payments but it’s extended beyond our means.
Kath is a very proud person and has never asked for any assistance from anyone but as a family we feel the need to step in and try to find the help that is so very much needed and very much deserving. Our goal is to raise enough money to pay off the mortgage and pay to have the medical equipment removed and building work paid for. Any help is greatly appreciated to save Kath’s house and help her rebuild the lives they once had before Spinocerebella Ataxia.
To find out more about Andy’s disease, we’ve found this website very helpful www.ataxia.org . Thank you for your support in advance. Please share our story with friends and family across the world to help raise awareness of this rare and debilitating condition and help Kath save her house.
Organizer and beneficiary
Tasha Bailey
Organizer
Kathryn Scammell
Beneficiary
