Helping Jane & her Family in a difficult time

Jane has recently been very unwell and has now

been diagnosed with a debilitating and degenerative Neuropathic condition that will progressively damage the nerve fibres within her body. At the moment the condition is affecting the nerve fibres in her feet, legs and eyes. The nervous system controls muscle action, and the damage to the nerves in her legs and feet has progressed to the point where the muscles no longer work. The lack of muscle action, accompanied by excruciating pain in her feet (even the slightest touch is agonising for Jane) has taken away her ability to walk - and she is now confined to a wheel chair. The damage to her optical nerves has caused her vision to become blurred, and this too, will progressively deteriorate.

Her condition will eventually affect her entire nervous system - and there is no cure. Jane is only 38 years old and she has a 5 year old son. She also has a teenage son and a partner who underwent extensive back surgery last year. Jane has become completely dependent on her partner for mobility, as she cannot weight bare in any way whatsoever, so he has to carry her to her wheelchair and assist her with everyday functional things – things that most of us take for granted.

As you can imagine, the rapid onset of this condition has been devastating for Jane and her family, and as they try to come to terms with the uncertainty of what the future holds, they also have to deal with immediate practical concerns. The ministry of health has supplied limited equipment to support Jane within her home, however they do not fund wheelchairs for outdoor use, and Jane will need to pay for an adequate outdoors wheelchair - or remain house bound.

To further complicate things, the home they currently rent is not at all suitable for wheelchair use – and even with adjustments, the mix of levels and tight corners make it awkward and difficult for wheelchair mobility. The family desperately needs to move into a more wheelchair friendly property, and I'm sure you can all appreciate the extreme costs this will involve. With one child at Stanmore Bay Primary and one at Whangaparaoa College, they need find a place in the right location, as staying local is important to this family.

Jane can obviously no longer work, so they have lost her income - and due to his back surgery, her partner is, as yet, unable to return to his job as a concrete cutter - so they are surviving on his reduced ACC income. I'm asking our community to please help and support this local family as they face these very difficult changes in their lives. I'm wanting to help lessen some of the stress and pressure on my friends by raising some funds to help with all the upcoming expenses they will be facing.

Please help out a local HBC Family by donating or sharing this page with others, thank you all so much in advance ;)