Hi team. Just wanted to send through this pic of Matty because he is looking so much more like himself and it just makes me so happy. Over 10kgs up since he got to a scary 39kgs earlier this year. Docs have a firm plan now and things are looking up!
Kia ora to all
I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have donated. I am so very humbled and grateful to you all for playing a role in saving my life, helping me to return home to New Zealand and to cover the costs involved.
I am now recovering and receiving further treatment to correct the surgery which was done in Poland. I have a long road of physiotherapy and treatment until a definitive surgery is performed later next year.
I am working towards the goal of setting up a family home so I can have my wife, 2 kids, Sunny and Zuzanna, along with Max the pooch to join me here in New Zealand. They are currently in Poland as I try secure an MIQ spot and spousal visa for my wife Joanna and a visa for my stepdaughter, Zuzanna. Sunny is a holder of a kiwi passport and has his NZ citizenship but still needs to wait and make this journey with his mum, sister and his best friend, Max.
This will take time due to COVID-19 and the travel restrictions and also be a costly process.
I am staying positive, grateful and motivated and looking forward to a brighter future with my little family joining me here in Aotearoa.
Many thanks again and any further donations will be used for the purpose of hospital fees and immigration and travel costs for my family to join me here in Godzone.
Aroha nui to all,
Matty
Really don’t want Matty to carry this burden over him, so have extended the closing date.
Update from Matty coming soon xx
Really lovely update written by Ripu Bhatia for Stuff. Thanks for your support throughout this whole journey Ripu. You’ve definitely played a part in saving Matt’s life & bringing him home.
Thank you so much for the continued donations rolling in. Would love for Matty to not have this medical bill hanging over his head and just focus on his recovery.
You’re amazing NZ, I’ve cried tears of relief and joy so much this past couple weeks! X
Matty is now settling into MIQ in the hospital. His specialist is working closely with my mum and keeping us informed which is amazing after months dealing with a huge language barrier. Matty still faces weeks of recovery but he is stable. To think a few weeks back I was facing bringing my brother home in a coffin, and now he is here! I feel like words will never be enough to express my gratitude.
The final cost of saving his life will be around $126,000. Repatriation during covid being the main reason it was so high. Due to the generosity of others we have been able to pay the majority of this. I still owe $2000 towards repatriation, and now the $20,000 Polish hospital bill we received when Matty was discharged. So we once again ask for your help.
Matty is now on his way to hospital for 2 weeks quarantine, and from there will continue his healing hopefully with his extended family around him. We are not sure if we can visit him at level 3 but we hope to. Huge thank you to Sean from air ambulance and his team who now have to quarantine also. We couldn’t have done it without your guidance and support. Thank you once again to everyone who was able to donate or send messages of encouragement throughout the past few weeks/months. Absolutely blown away by the kindness of strangers who have rallied around us in a time where everyone is going through so much themselves. If this doesn’t restore your faith in humanity I don’t know what does! No words can ever express our gratitude.
Sara, Matt’s little sister x
Air Ambulance is waiting to transport Matty to quarantine in hospital. WE DID IT!!! He is home. Our family cannot thank you enough. You all saved his life xx
I made it safely to Dubai, on the home stretch friends. Thank you so much for bringing me home.
Kia Ora friends & Whanau. So excited to finally share that Matty is set to fly on 4th September & will be back in Aotearoa on September 6th. He is having another blood transfusion today to ensure his haemoglobin levels are high enough, and he is travelling with an amazing medical team to ensure he remains stable throughout the trip home.
I have been able to pay a large chunk of the repatriation bill this morning, and your continued donations will cover the rest. WE HAVE DONE IT NEW ZEALAND! He is coming home!
Our family will never be able to express our gratitude to everyone who has shown Matty and his family support these last few months. Would appreciate your prayers now as he makes his way home. X
Pic of us all from 2008 - Mum and her kids. Matty’s cheeky smile is the best.
We don’t have enough to cover the $100k bill to fly Matty home. I wasn’t aware that give a little takes 5% fee, plus having already paid out close to $7000 so far in medical costs we are left short.
Thank you so much for the messages of support we have continued to receive and outpouring of love for our family over the last few months.
We have finalised Matty’s medevac for in the next fortnight thanks to an amazing effort and support from the New Zealand Hospital and our Ministry of Health Border approvals team.
Matt will evacuate with an Intensive Care Nurse and Consultant Retrieval Doctor on a commercial flight from Europe to be welcomed home into strict Hospital MIQ conditions. He is excited and looking forward to being home where he will have further hospital care to restore his body to a condition where he will be able to be discharged and recommence his life.
The long hospital stays and multiple surgeries to save his life together with the relative isolation of being in a foreign hospital in a Pandemic has been a very difficult time for Matt and us as a family.
We will be forever grateful to his Polish Hospital and Physicians for their care, but we need him home to continue his rehabilitation where family can (hopefully soon) be by his side.
Resourcing a Medical team with the required credentials to bring Matty home has been quite difficult as most hospitals require staff to home isolate for 7 to 14 days after travel irrespective of borders being open – so naturally that costs more to allow for their time. We are fortunate that the primary Polish Speaking Air Ambulance New Zealand Emergency Medicine Consultant based in the UK has stepped in following the Level 4 situation in New Zealand stopping us sending across the NZ based team. A highly skilled ICU nurse joins him for the trip.
As for the funds raised, we will experience some shortfall with hospital costs given the extra two months stay in Poland , and some additional expenses related to the medical teams UK location, work quarantines and travel changes so we have opened up donations once again. We appreciate all support as we close in on the final goal of getting Matt home safe and sound. Thank you to the kind people of Aotearoa who have helped us do this. Without you he would not still be here on this earth, coming back to his family.
Thank you x
Hello friends, whanau & caring strangers. I had hoped by now we would be updating you with the good news that Matty was home, but unfortunately that is not yet the case. Matty has had to have further surgeries, endured complications from those surgeries, needs another blood transfusion and his haemoglobin level is not yet high enough to safely fly. On a positive note he has started physiotherapy and is now able to sit up unassisted. Matty has a fighting spirit, and I am convinced that the caring acts of everyone following his story has helped him profoundly. We are forever grateful for the kindness of others, and will keep updating as we have news. Sara x
Just have to start off by saying I am sorry for the lack of updates lately. This whole situation has taken a toll on my family, it’s been all consuming. The latest news is that Matty is currently having a second surgery to remove another abscess. All going well we have a tentative date for him to fly. The logistics are very complicated due to covid and we are thankful to have the help from Air Ambulance. We are hoping to have him home by the end of the month. THANK YOU people of Aotearoa & beyond for your donations to bring him home. We are humbled and forever grateful for the kindness and empathy shown to Matty and our family at this time. We hope to have good news to share soon x
We have been advised that Matty has had emergency surgery overnight to remove a bowel obstruction & 10cm abscess from his colon. We have no idea what the cost of this surgery will be. A kiwi shouldn't have to go through this so far away, he should be here getting the care he needs in his home country with his family by his side. We are waiting on confirmation as to when he can fly. Thank you NZ for your continued donations to bring my brother home. We hope it’s soon x
As Mattys mum please know from the bottom of my heart how grateful I am. This has been such a difficult time for our family, having one we love dearly so unwell and so far from home. With gratitude in our hearts we thank you for the ongoing support to help us get our Matty home. With much love from Matty’s mum to our global community. Thank you
Matty wanted to say the doctors have given him the all clear to try food on Monday. It’s been weeks since he has eaten so care needs to be taken to prevent shock to the body. He has been fed through a tube in his neck since he was admitted. He is excited to try and eat. He wants to eat Vegemite :)
We hope this means he will be able to gain some weight and stabilise his vitals enough to get on a flight home to continue his care in NZ where it is not a huge financial cost and he has the support of his family by his side.
Thank you all for your ongoing support in helping us get Matty home. He is currently stable but not yet able to eat as he is suffering with cachexia and re feeding has to be slow. Your donations are helping to cover his hospital care until we can get him well enough to fly. Unfortunately it looks like it may cost upwards of $400,000NZ to charter a flight with an intensive care team so that is no longer an option. Please know your donations are saving my brothers life, and as soon as we have an official update on how we will get him home I will update here x
Just want to say thank you to all 1879 generous people who have made donations so far. This whole experience has made me see the world so differently. It’s easy to get dragged down in all the bad stuff, but there is SO MUCH GOOD. Kind caring people who are willing to help a stranger. Willing to help save someone’s life! It’s hard for me to find the words to say thank you, but just know my heart bursts with gratitude and love for you all. Every dollar counts in getting Matty home. X
Thank you so much for your continued donations and support. We had good news today and were told Matty is stable. A few days ago we were told it was likely he wouldn’t make it, now we have a chance to get him home. Your donations are saving his life and we are beyond grateful and humbled by the empathy and care shown by strangers all over the world. Thank you x
Goal updated. We need $100,000 to get him home.
Thank you so much NZ for your generous donations and kind messages at this tough time for our family. Matty is now in the cardiology ward in a Polish hospital, they are trying to save his life. Our options are a chartered flight home with an intensive care team which we cannot currently afford to do, or recovering in hospital in Poland so we can then get him on a commercial flight with a medical chaperone. Either way we couldn’t have done either without your help, so thank you from the bottom of our hearts for giving us hope x
We have been advised that it will cost a lot more than originally thought to get a chaperone to accompany Matty, as it needs to be a doctor due to the state of his health. Thank you so much for helping us, words cannot express our gratitude. You are saving his life x
We have found out we need to pay for a chaperone to bring him home as the airline won’t let him travel alone.
