A £10,000 appeal to help recovering critical care patients in Walsall is just over £2,500 short of reaching its target.
The appeal was started by grateful Covid-19 survivor Ian Hawkins’ family to buy rehabilitation equipment and create an outside space for recovering Intensive Care Unit patients and their visitors.
Ian, aged 57, was admitted to Walsall Manor Hospital on 29 March after developing Covid-19 symptoms and experiencing breathing difficulties. Within 24 hours the father-of-two was placed on full ventilation and over the next few weeks he suffered pneumonia, sepsis, multiple-organ failure and a secondary bacterial infection.
His recovery was filmed as part of a focus by ITV News on how the virus has affected Walsall’s community as a whole and he was able to return home to continue his recovery earlier this month.
A Just Giving page https://bit.ly/3003Yzh set up by the Cannock family currently stands at £7,428 and his wife Helen said they were hoping for a final push to reach their fundraising goal.
“This week Ian walked eight steps unaided without oxygen or a walking frame and continues to make steady progress,” she said.
Ian’s son Oliver said: “The remarkable ICU team at Walsall Manor managed to save dad’s life and he is now undergoing rehabilitation.
“The emotional and physical trauma he has – and will continue to – experience, was only eased by his family’s ability to contact him via phone and see each other through a window. After weeks of turmoil and separation this brief interaction with family offered a short reprieve from the horrors of Covid-19 for both dad and his loved ones.
“In order to demonstrate our gratitude to the NHS staff and to ease the suffering for future families who may be separated by Covid-19, we set up a fundraising page to help raise money for Walsall Manor ICU. The money raised by this page will be used to buy much-needed rehabilitation equipment for patients and to create a recreational outside area for visitation during this pandemic, which will also act as a therapeutic outdoor space for patients recovering in ICU beyond the pandemic.”