Sea legs for Carlos

Meet Carlos Del la Varis, he is 16 years old and a member of the Tauranga Sea Cadets - Training Ship Chatham. He is an avid sailer and is always talking about when he is going to get out on the water next. In December last year Carlos was diagnosed with Guillain-Barrè Syndrome (GBS), a rare condition where the body’s immune system starts attacking its own nervous system.

Carlos was admitted to Tauranga Hospital two days before Christmas and transferred to the High Dependency Unit in Waikato Hospital that night. Over the next few days he rapidly lost mobility in his legs and arms and had difficulty eating and breathing. They started him on a 5 day immunoglobulin plasma transfusion as an attempt to help his body and nerves repair. For my family and I this meant an unexpected and emotional Christmas in hospital.

After approximately 2 weeks in Waikato, with us travelling back and forth everyday, Carlos was transferred back to Tauranga to begin the slow process of rehabilitation. This means he will have to learn to walk, run and most importantly sail all over again.

His progress has been outstanding so far, his doctors and physiotherapists have said so themselves, although there is still a long way to go.

We are trying to raise $3,000 so that we can buy Carlos his own sailboat, ready for when he gets out of hospital. The boat is an incentive for him to get back out on the water as soon as possible, and he can't wait!

It will be a long process for Carlos but we are hoping this will keep his already amazing focus on track and get him back doing what he loves to do, sooner.