The Neate Family Fundraiser

Imagine hearing your husband was found on the ground by strangers as he walked to work. Imagine walking into the kitchen and finding him unconscious on the floor without a proper heart beat. This is the reality for this young family. With a life long struggle with his heart health Russel has had more than 5 deaths door events over the last 4 years where his family has gone into emergency mode and medical staff have fought to keep him alive. 



Please help! This lovely family of three are in crisis mode at the moment and have been for too long. After battling with a sick heart all of his life the time has come where it just can’t keep him alive on its own anymore. After 28 days in ICU and 6 weeks in hospital in Melbourne Russell now has an LVAD artificial pump and is awaiting a heart transplant. This isn’t the first time they’ve had to travel to keep him going either. Earlier this year following a hospital acquired infection of golden staph they were in Melbourne dealing with the heavy scaring in his vessels and around his heart trying to change pacemaker wires and dealing with a septic shower. With his chest cracked open twice in the last month Russell’s Drs describe his sternum as being like concrete. The first surgery that severed this bone was when he was 18 months old. 




The journey ahead is long and difficult. The journey behind - that has been very long and difficult too. Rejected by the government for a disability pension and not allowed by his Drs to work more than 10 hours a week for the past 2 years Russell has had to rely on the generosity of his employer allowing him to work 2 half days a week and Newstart allowance to provide for his family. His wife Kylee unable to gain employment with her own complex chronic health issues and the role of caring for her husband and son. 




Normally residing in Adelaide this family of three has been up rooted. 9 year old James has started at a new school for the last term of the year as they are required by the medical team to be there for another 4 months or maybe more. Current status for Kylee and James is they are staying in a hotel apartment near his school, walking to school everyday. An unusual difficult this family faces is multiple complex chronic illness with Kylee having a condition that results in easy dislocation of her joints and intense pain and as such public transport is not recommended. Being jostled could result in her needing hospitalisation too and James deserves to have at least one parent by his side each night. 




So, I humbly request some financial support for this lovely family who have been living in a state of trauma for way too long. Our goals? To ease the pain of trying to afford accommodation and transport in another state. To cover the school fees for a term of school away from his normal school and friends. To service their poor old car and get it up to standard to drive to Melbourne so they have affordable transport. To get a bit extra to enable us to do some maintenance work on a home that this family has been unable afford to manage for years. And 2 dream goals - to cover their mortgage payments for a while, because the cost of renting will be way more than their mortgage and no one should ask a family going through what they are experiencing to rely on a year by year rental contract that may require them to move frequently. To buy them a new automatic, 4 door car so that fears of breakdowns on the way to the hospital or home are relieved. 




Kylee is inventive and determined with her cooking and her budgeting. Her only luxury is using taxi for transport when she is unable to borrow a car to visit her husband and as I’ve said, it’s not really a luxury as public transport is not safe enough. If you choose to support this family I promise your donation will be used wisely and sensibly. I would like to thank family and friends who have provided support over the years of struggle so far. Now we need to reach more widely. Please help if you are able. 




With sincere thanks, Rebecca