Help Steve

You may or may not know this hairy Brummy, aka Daddy pig, Smarty or Stephen David Smart, my stepdad and dad to my beautiful brother Stanley Smart but he’s had a tougher time than most of recent.

 

In December 2021 Steve was diagnosed with Bowel Cancer. In the summer of last year Steve was rushed to hospital with a ruptured intestine, had to undergo emergency surgery and was fitted with a colostomy bag. Unfortunately, due to the NHS covid backlog, his reversal surgery was postponed and subsequently, he developed a hernia. When he was finally referred for a scan in November and was hoping he would have surgery to remove the colostomy bag/ fix the hernia, they found the cancer.

 

He is now living with a colostomy bag, hernia and bowel cancer. Not a great trio in any case.

 

Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer diagnosis in the UK and the second biggest killer. We were lucky to catch the cancer at an early stage, but his current living situation puts him in grave danger of not being able to recover safely.

 

Steve is a creative and incredible designer but, like most, has found it hard to find work in these uncertain and trying times. He had been actively looking into other work, ambulance driving, delivery driving and applied to do his HGV but was deemed unfit because of the hernia. He had to halt the search after being made almost immobile from all of his complications.

 

He is undergoing surgery next week, will be in hospital for 8-10 days with a 4-6 weeks recovery period. This will be followed by 6 weeks of chemo and further surgery to remove the colostomy bag, if everything goes smoothly. He will be physically unable to work.

 

Steve is currently living in a small one bed apartment where my brother Stan stays on a weekly basis. We all know the cost of renting in London is a joke but the universal credit he is receiving only just covers his rent leaving him with £38 for the rest of the month. My mum and Steve have a more than amicable custody agreement but as they don't want to go to court and also can’t afford to, the agreement isn’t recognised by the government and Steve receives no extra money for taking care of Stan. Steve is an incredible dad, and has always gone the extra mile but recently, he simply hasn’t always been able to afford to take care of Stanley and has to visit him when he is well enough at my mum’s house.

 

This month he was promised a loan of £350 from the government, which would have made a huge difference to his living situation. A few weeks ago he was elated to be given the opportunity to do some graphic design work for a friend and earned £300 from this one-off job. This morning he was told he was no longer allowed the £350 (because he had worked) which he was relying on to keep him going over the next few weeks of recovery.

 

I know the past two years has been tough on everyone, and there are a million and one different causes to donate to at the moment, but this is all I could think left to do.

 

Anything anyone can give will be more than appreciated, not just because it will make a financial difference but because knowing there are people who love and care for him is something money can’t buy.