One legged man hops around world
Donation protected
Hi my name is Luke Deards
First of all I would like to tell you my story. This is very difficult for me as it is opening myself up to the world but I hope this helps to give inspiration to others and to gain support to fulfill my dream.
In 1995, I met a man and ran away from home. I was very young and thought I knew everything about the world. He was much older than me and in a short space of time he took control of my life. He was a very jealous and controlling man. For years I was not able to see my friends and family and lived in a very abusive relationship. Until today I have never been able to speak about what happened to me. At that time, this was because I was afraid and didn’t know where to go then later I was too ashamed to say what he did to me.
For 10 years this went on and it was tearing me apart inside. Until one day I got brave and packed my things to leave him. I was 27 at the time, I grew stronger and was able to say that he could not continue to treat me in this way. I had a right to my own life.
This left him with no control over me so he shot me with a shotgun.
Fortunately I was shot at close range about 6 foot away. With a shotgun, the further away it is the more damage it could cause. I was shot in the belly leaving me with large open wound. I was on a boat when this happened and as soon as he shot me I ran, pushing my hand into my tummy trying to stop the bleeding. I managed to get off the boat and onto land all the time screaming for help. At this point a neighbour found me and then my family arrived. Leaving me for dead my ex hid inside the boat and eventually the Police and ambulance arrived and I was taken to the hospital.
I was then in a coma for sometime as the doctors tried to save my life. The main vain to my leg was severed, so to stop me from bleeding to death it was clamped. No blood was going to my leg so it died and had to be removed. With a shotgun, there are many little pellets that shredded my intestines meaning half of my bowel was needed to be removed. I was on full life support as my internal organs had shut down. The doctors informed me that it was only my heart that kept going and this saved my life.
When I woke I felt like the luckiest man in the world and begun my fight to take my life back. I was not going to let him win. I needed to also show to the doctors, my friends and family this second chance in life will not be wasted.
Two years later, I past my driving and got myself back to work building a new life. Working and saving to build goals and dreams. I had an amazing career, working myself up in to large companies. Working hard and saving for my dream to travel the world. Last year in 2015 I was at the point for where I could make my dreams come true. So I handed in my notice and planned my world hop. Unfortunately the same month I left my job, I got an infection from the lead pellets still inside of me. It was a very deep infection and I needed to be operated on to remove some of the pellets and drain the infection. This cleared so I started to travel. First of all going to the Philippines, however I got very ill again and was taken into hospital in the Philippines. It has been five months now of being on constant antibiotics and operations. This has eaten away at my savings at a fast pace. As I get well again I am more determined than ever to travel around the world. I want to backpack from London all the way around trying to travel to as many countries as possible. This is where I need your help, if you cannot help to fund me then can you please help to spread my story to find people who can help me. I am also looking for sponsors as I will be blogging about my travels and there will be many opportunities I’m sure.
First of all I would like to tell you my story. This is very difficult for me as it is opening myself up to the world but I hope this helps to give inspiration to others and to gain support to fulfill my dream.
In 1995, I met a man and ran away from home. I was very young and thought I knew everything about the world. He was much older than me and in a short space of time he took control of my life. He was a very jealous and controlling man. For years I was not able to see my friends and family and lived in a very abusive relationship. Until today I have never been able to speak about what happened to me. At that time, this was because I was afraid and didn’t know where to go then later I was too ashamed to say what he did to me.
For 10 years this went on and it was tearing me apart inside. Until one day I got brave and packed my things to leave him. I was 27 at the time, I grew stronger and was able to say that he could not continue to treat me in this way. I had a right to my own life.
This left him with no control over me so he shot me with a shotgun.
Fortunately I was shot at close range about 6 foot away. With a shotgun, the further away it is the more damage it could cause. I was shot in the belly leaving me with large open wound. I was on a boat when this happened and as soon as he shot me I ran, pushing my hand into my tummy trying to stop the bleeding. I managed to get off the boat and onto land all the time screaming for help. At this point a neighbour found me and then my family arrived. Leaving me for dead my ex hid inside the boat and eventually the Police and ambulance arrived and I was taken to the hospital.
I was then in a coma for sometime as the doctors tried to save my life. The main vain to my leg was severed, so to stop me from bleeding to death it was clamped. No blood was going to my leg so it died and had to be removed. With a shotgun, there are many little pellets that shredded my intestines meaning half of my bowel was needed to be removed. I was on full life support as my internal organs had shut down. The doctors informed me that it was only my heart that kept going and this saved my life.
When I woke I felt like the luckiest man in the world and begun my fight to take my life back. I was not going to let him win. I needed to also show to the doctors, my friends and family this second chance in life will not be wasted.
Two years later, I past my driving and got myself back to work building a new life. Working and saving to build goals and dreams. I had an amazing career, working myself up in to large companies. Working hard and saving for my dream to travel the world. Last year in 2015 I was at the point for where I could make my dreams come true. So I handed in my notice and planned my world hop. Unfortunately the same month I left my job, I got an infection from the lead pellets still inside of me. It was a very deep infection and I needed to be operated on to remove some of the pellets and drain the infection. This cleared so I started to travel. First of all going to the Philippines, however I got very ill again and was taken into hospital in the Philippines. It has been five months now of being on constant antibiotics and operations. This has eaten away at my savings at a fast pace. As I get well again I am more determined than ever to travel around the world. I want to backpack from London all the way around trying to travel to as many countries as possible. This is where I need your help, if you cannot help to fund me then can you please help to spread my story to find people who can help me. I am also looking for sponsors as I will be blogging about my travels and there will be many opportunities I’m sure.
Organizer
Luke Deards
Organizer
