George's shoulder surgery

Our lovely, intelligent and talented son has a rare condition called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome that causes his joints to constantly dislocate, particularly his shoulders. After years of various treatments on the NHS, we decided to pay for a private consultation with one of the top shoulder specialists in the country. This was November of 2014 and the outcome of the appointment was a promise of life-changing shoulder surgery by March of 2015. Unfortunately, when George was transferred back to the NHS, the promise of surgery was soon forgotten and we were once again left to find our own solution to the problem.

In the wait for surgery, he had to defer his final year at university of Brighton due to the constant pain and disability, at a non-refundable financial cost of £9000 as well as the emotional cost of losing a year of 'life', having to be cared for by parents as well as having to take increasingly strong, mind-blurring drugs to cope with the pain. To his credit he is, once again, signed up for his final year at university and with the new academic year just around the corner we are reluctantly forced to turn to the private sector for the essential shoulder surgery at a cost of £7000.

Please dig deep and help George enjoy a life alongside his peers, and allow us to stand back with the knowledge that he is capable of living the independent life he so deserves.

Thank you for reading,
Jane & David Dutton (George's parents)