Update;

Surgery completed as scheduled and all went well. Dave is doing as well as can be expected albeit in a great deal of pain.

A big thank you to all those who have already contributed and shared this for Dave - much appreciated!

Dignity for Dave!

Hi, this is a humble request to all of Dave ‘Watty’ Watkinson (Aka Dave English’)'s friends and to all those who know and respect him, for a small financial contribution to help cover his loss of earnings and to see him through the tough months ahead due to his upcoming triple heart bypass surgery (scheduled for August 8th) and subsequent recuperation.

All of you who know Dave, have served alongside/ worked with or crossed paths in any capacity will be aware of what a strong, hardworking and fiercely proud and independent man he is. His loyalty to ‘his country’ has known no bounds and he served for 25 years in the British Army, including several tours of Northern Ireland and risking his life in The Gulf War.

When he was diagnosed with severe heart disease requiring urgent life saving bypass surgery (11 months ago now!) one of his main concerns was how he was going to be able to continue supporting himself and his dependents, as well as meeting his ongoing financial commitments, in view of the inevitable time off from work he would need.

Although his employers (Castell Howell) have been amazing allowing him to continue in a lesser paid role due to his unfitness, this has already caused him to struggle financially and as he will not receive sick pay his financial worries are causing more stress and anxiety in addition to his health worries.

Having ‘paid into the system’ for over 40 years, Dave was shocked to be told that he didn’t qualify for any financial support/benefits at all from the government (apart from a meagre amount of statutory sick pay)

He was then persuaded to swallow his pride a little and approached the numerous army veterans charities which he hopefully assumed he would be the perfect candidate to receive financial support from, but he was sadly, in all cases, met with a resounding ‘sorry, but no’

These knock backs from those organisations he felt would have supported him have had a profound effect on Dave’s self esteem and made him feel unvalued and viewed as worthless in a society which he has put so much loyalty and trust into.

These financial worries have, and I believe will continue to have, a detrimental affect on Dave’s physical health and mental well being and on his ability to allow himself the necessary time to recuperate and recover after his operation as he will feel the need to return to work as soon as possible whether he is well enough or not!

Dave’s pride would never allow or accept any sort of ‘begging request’ for help so instead this is a heartfelt callout to anyone who knows and respects Dave or with whom his story resonates, to please contribute in any small way they feel able, to show Dave that he is worthy of help and support to weather the financial and health storm ahead with the peace of mind and dignity I believe he has earned and deserves.

Thank you for taking the time to read this