Hi

Thankyou for taking the time to read this but let me tell you please why I started it and how now with peoples kindness it's become something I could never have imagined

Deborah Day or Debbie as she liked to be called was my partner for just over 6 years

And we both decided to take the plunge and I moved in with her a few years ago

We'd both had not nice marriages and relationships in the past, but together we were something abit special, we had both finally found someone we were both so relaxed with we could finally just get ourselves and didn't have to pretend we were something we weren't like you have to do in some relationships

Unfortunately Debbie had serious asthma, that serious not only was she being cared for by Milton Keynes hospital, but also the Royal Brompton hospital in London a hospital that specialises in nothing but asthma and breathing problems

As the years went on Debbie's asthma, asthma attacks and the complications that go with it just got worse

She gained weight a ladies worst nightmare and without warning her legs would shake and she'd just fall to the ground, normally her skin tearing as she fell or breaking bones, as both had become weak and thin due to the steroids she took to try and improve the function of her lungs and she became, slowly weaker and weaker due to constant hospital stays and eventually became wheelchair bound

Life was pretty crap, but together we got by hoping one day her health would improve and we might be able to enjoy our relationship even more like normal couples do.

But unfortunately this was never going to happen and although I didn't know it at the time my life was going to change forever

September last year, she hadn't been home long and I had to call yet another ambulance, I can't remember why, maybe it was another asthma attack or maybe she'd fallen again I really don't know

But that ambulance was the last I ever called for her

In October she became unwell and as she was to weak for intensive care a DNR was put on her

But she was a bloody fighter and she proved them wrong yet again and lived it was incredible

Here come the tears sorry

But whatever it was came back only this time she was put on end of life care

Ward 16 the ladies asthma ward at our hospital, the ward she always ended up on where great they opened their doors 24 hours a day for us .

And as I took up residence next to her bedside, not only friends and family come to say goodbye, so did many of the ward staff as well, because over the years everyone knew us both and they'd become more like friends

On the fourth day of sitting there just holding her hand or stroked her arm or anything really just hoping she knew I was there, her face changed, I'll never forget it, that image comes back it used to upset me, but now it reminds me I was there with her right to the end

And unfortunately later that day 30th October 2025, she sadly took her last breath, with one of her daughters and myself by her side

Obviously I'm heartbroken I miss her like hell, but she's at peace now and no longer suffering

But her death made me start this and it's turned into something quite incredible and it's changed my life for ever

I noticed on every ward we'd visited they don't have thier own wheelchair, there's wheelchairs in the hospital, those big old fashioned things you can hardly steer and if I hadn't have spent all that time over the years I wouldn't have believed it myself,

If staff on a ward want a wheelchair they have to get someone to hunt for one like everyone else

At first not long after Debbie died on a trip back to the ward to say thankyou for all they'd done for us I offered them ours, there was nothing wrong with it and almost like new but as crazy as it sounds they couldn't accept it because it was used

Then one day in December my mental health took a turn for the worst and dark thoughts filled my brain and I'll be honest, those dark thoughts weren't nice I'd been there before and climbed a ladder with something around my neck and jumped, thankfully it didn't work and I'm here to tell the tale,

So I started this something to occupy my mind with and hopefully something to remember Debbie by

I started it thinking maybe I might get a few quid and give it to Ward 16 too put towards buying themselves a wheelchair, little did I know back then it would turn into what it is today

It was meant to be a surprise, but before Christmas the suprise had gone because it had grown so much, so I went back to ward 16 and spoke with the matron Sarah about wheelchairs and the best one to buy

Because they are going to a hospital they are Vat free so they're £249.99 and are also bariatric which is even better as anyone can use them and not go without

Here's a link if you would like a look, they're something a little special and will make such a difference .

https://www.hospitalbeds.co.uk/alerta-medical-lightweight-folding-car-transit-wheelchair.html

I think its wrong that the NHS don't supply them, maybe they just can't afford them I don't know, ot maybe it's because wards have managed for so long without they don't see it as a necessity

But one dedicated wheelchair on a ward, a wheelchair that stays on that ward and is theirs and no one else's, will make such a difference

No more will staff have to hunt for one like everyone else

No more will staff have to adapt and use a commode on wheels instead

And hopefully more people will have that little extra dignity of using the bathroom, instead of a commode behind those blue curtains with no dignity at all

But that one wheelchair I thought I'd never get Has turned into this because I've learnt something new and it's shocked me so much, peoples kindness is amazing and I can't thank them enough

I want to finish what I've started and keep Deborah Days memory alive and although she couldn't be a donar she's helped so many people already, but if she knows it who knows

If she hadn't have died I wouldn't have started this and now somehow and with peoples help, I am going to put a wheelchair on every ward at Milton Keynes Hospital our hospital, a hospital were I've seen so much and learnt so much and met some incredible people

One thing Id like to say though and I totally get it

If you can't afford to donate it doesn't matter please don't feel guilty, I totally understand

But if you can thats great and thankyou but please don't give more than you can afford

I also share so much about this on my Facebook page which is available for anyone to look at and also if you have any questions feel free to ask

https://www.facebook.com/share/14Uwc5Gd7vA/

Thankyou so much Andy Hodges

In loving memory of my special lady

Deborah Day "Debbie"

16-02-1965 to 30-10- 2025

Mum of four

Grandmother of eight