Getting my dad on his feet again

Hi to all,

I am trying to fund a good prosthetic leg for my father, one that allows him to move as naturally as possible. I have tried funding this personally, but I am realising that it is not possible for me and so would like your help. Here is some background:

My father has had a horrible hand dealt to him when it comes to health.

Before I was born, he had an accident at work and he suffered back injury (2 slipped disks and another two cracked). He spent six months not able to walk but he, with my mother's help fought back and got back on his feet. Since he could not do his job any more he went back to studying and managed to get a new job as a draughtsman.

Go ahead some 25, and following long suffering stomach problems the doctors diagnosed that he needed a bypass (heart and neck) and even though the operation went well, he got MRSA and had to stay quarantined for a month. This issue left a scar on his chest that till this day, every so often bleeds and hurts.

Five years later he was diagnosed with a tumor in his neck, jaw and other soft tissue. The only chance he had, according to various consultations, was the physical removal of the said tissue. Following a 14 hour plus operation the tumor was removed and he started recovery of around a year. The operation though, removed a large part of his left shoulder, arm and chest muscle leaving him considerably weakened and with some upper body mobility issues.

The most recent pain came a couple of weeks back when he suffered from a thrombosis and lost his right leg above the knee.

Oh and by the way my father has always done his best to keep healthy. Though he was a smoker in his youth he quit smoking. He keeps fit by going for walks and eats healthy, rarely drinks apart from the occasional glass of wine (no more than one a week), basically ever since I remember.

My father is the best man I have ever met in my nearly 40 years and now he cannot even come home from rehab since we live in a house that cannot be easily turned into wheelchair accessible. Apart from that his main hobby, gardening is a no go without a leg. He and my mum live on a state pension and would find it almost impossible to make the necessary alterations to their house, so I shall do my best to get my parents’ house up to scratch by changing the bathroom and spare toilet, and if I can make it, install some kind of lift since our house has 13 steps before reaching the front door. I am thinking that I could get a loan from the banks for around €5000 for a bathroom and spare toilet plus between €5000 to €10000 for the front stairs solution.

But here is where I need help. I want my dad to walk, take care of the garden, to grow endangered trees, care for them and go plant them in the wild, as he has always done. He is just 67 and I want him to have a good prosthetic leg so that he can walk well. I know he deserves it but I cannot give it to him, no matter how much I try. My parents live in Malta and he can get an okay leg paid by government grants, but would need around another €25,000 to get a good knee and leg.

I am a proud person who never asked for help, but even cutting my expenses to almost nil, I would not make the amounts required in the next 6 months, when he would start using the leg. As for how much any help would be appreciated, I cannot explain. I am writing this with with a heavy painful feeling that has been there for the past weeks, a pain caused by not being able to give my parents all they need, the same parents who sacrificed their life to give me the best. I know that with your help my father can enjoy his ‘normal’ life which is the greatest gift I could ever receive.