Legless at 40

Fundraising campaign by Mari and Cal
  • £34,547
    raised of £45,000.00 goal goal
76% Funded
526 Donors
Help this ongoing fundraising campaign by making a donation and spreading the word.
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Emma is a fantastic mum to three spirited little people, wonderful wife, loving daughter, caring sister, fabulous friend, and thoughtful psychologist. She makes a mean treacle tart, can remember the lyrics to any song she's ever heard and does an excellent imitation of a glitter ball if given a few cocktails. She is also an above knee amputee.

Emma has Behçet's disease and Relapsing Polychondritis (more info below). After a horrendous few years health-wise, which included (and this is just a snapshot) emergency surgery to repair a ruptured aneurysm in her leg, 28 hours of open heart surgery, and extreme pain in her right leg, she made the difficult decision to have her leg amputated.

Over the last two years Emma has worked hard to get her life back to how she would like it to be. The NHS has been fantastic. They have saved her life far more times than seem possible and supported her to walk again. Unfortunately, yet understandably, their funding only goes so far. Emma has achieved so much, but we would like to help her achieve even more by getting her a new leg that should make life easier for her. As you can imagine, they're quite pricey, so we're asking friends and family if they would be willing to chip in anything they could afford.

When Emma was very unwell and in hospital people often asked what they could do and we were never sure how to answer that. Emma really appreciated all the love and good wishes, but we've now thought of something we can actually DO!

Emma turns 40 in November 2017 (sorry to make that so public, Em!) and we think a new leg would make a brilliant birthday present. She would need some time to break it in, which is why we're starting early, but we would love it if she could celebrate the new decade with a super-duper new leg.

The leg that Emma has been recommended is the Genium X3 by Ottobock. It is "the world's most technologically-advanced microprocessor prosthetic leg", and it would allow her much more control while walking, even in difficult terrains, and give her an easier, more natural gait. It also greatly reduces the risk of falling, which would allow her to concentrate on other things (such as small children!) while walking and, we hope, increase her confidence in walking. It also senses when to bend and when to lock, as opposed to Emma’s current leg which she has to push back on or it will give way.

The estimated cost of the leg is £40,000 and Emma would require appointments with a private prosthetist to fit it. We are therefore looking to raise £45,000.

Thank you x


What is Behçet's Disease?

Also called Behçet's syndrome, it is a rare, complicated and chronic disease. In the UK it is estimated that there are around 1,000 to 2,000 sufferers. It causes inflammation of small blood vessels across the whole body, which leads to a range of symptoms. These symptoms include ulcers, skin lesions, eye inflammation (which can lead to blindness), fatigue, severe joint pains (arthritis), bowel problems and blood clots. Less commonly it can cause neurological problems, and also inflammation of the veins or arteries. Behçet's disease cannot be cured, but symptoms can be treated, for example with anti-inflammatory medication. There are now three specialist centres within the UK that treat patients with Behçet's disease. For more information please see the Behçet's Syndrome Society website (http://www.behcets.org.uk/).

What is Relapsing Polychondritis?

Relapsing Polychondritis (RP) is a very rare, chronic autoimmune condition. It causes repeated episodes of inflammation of the cartilage and other connective tissue in several parts of the body, usually affecting the ears, nose, throat and lungs. Inflammation can also affect the ribs, joints, eyes and heart. The inflammation is very painful and can also be destructive, leading to collapse of cartilage once the inflammation settles. As with Behcet's Disease it cannot be cured, but can usually be controlled with immunosuppressant medication.There are often periods where symptoms flare up, followed by periods of 'remission'.

The New Leg

If you are interested in knowing more, take a look at their website (http://www.ottobock.co.uk/prosthetics/lower_limb_prosthetics/prosthetic-product-systems/genium_x3-prosthetic-leg/#video-1). There are details about the legs and knee, and some real life stories that can provide you with some more insight about how these legs can improve the quality of people’s lives.

Fundraising Team

  • Mari and Cal
  •  
  • Campaign Owner
  • Caroline Bishop
  •  
  • Social Media Manager

Donors

  • Miklós Szabó
  • Donated on Jul 25, 2022
£15.00
  • Micky Forster
  • Donated on Oct 10, 2017
  • Keep on running Gilly! It's a wonderful thing you are doing.

£10.00
  • Sandra Akintola
  • Donated on Oct 06, 2017
  • I finally did it Amy, wishing Emma the very best.

£20.00
Nov 12

Update from Emma

Update posted by Mari and Cal at 09:58 pm

One year on: Life with my robot legAt the end of October 2017, just before my 40th birthday, I got my Genium X3 leg, thanks to the amazing generosity of everyone who supported the Legless@40 fundraising campaign. It’s been a whole year since then, and that seems like a good. . . . .

See update
0
Oct 23

WE DID IT!

Update posted by Mari and Cal at 04:47 pm

Hello lovely people and happy Autumn! We hope you all had a great summer. It's been 11 months since we started on the legless journey, our aim to get Emma a new leg for her fortieth birthday. A vague idea formed over a giggly evening with a bottle of wine,. . . . .

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0
Jul 13

Happy Summer

Update posted by Mari and Cal at 07:58 pm

Hello and happy summer to you all!Sorry it’s been so long since we’ve posted an update. It doesn’t happen often but we’ve been rendered quite speechless by how fabulous you all are! Since our last update the Legless fund has more than doubled. We are continually amazed by how generous. . . . .

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0
Mar 04

All about prosthetics

Update posted by Mari and Cal at 09:25 am

Hello all. It’s been a while since we gave you an update and 2017 seems to be flying by. However, you guys have been busy being lovely and we have already reached 30% of our target! Thank you so much for all your fantastic support. It is great to see. . . . .

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0
Jan 05

Changes in the NHS

Update posted by Mari and Cal at 08:35 pm

Happy New Year All! We write with some news. There has been a change in policy on NHS funding for prosthetic legs for above knee amputees, which means that some patients will be funded to have legs with a microprocessor knee (originally not available when we started this campaign). We. . . . .

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Dec 24

A Big Thank You

Update posted by Mari and Cal at 01:44 pm

£10,000!! That is incredible! Thank you all so very much for supporting this appeal and supporting me. Your kindness, enthusiasm and generosity are so wonderful.The past few weeks have been a bit rough for me - I was admitted to hospital with inflammation in my lungs, caused by my Relapsing. . . . .

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Dec 18

Two years ago today...

Update posted by Mari and Cal at 08:02 pm

It was two years ago today that Emma had her leg amputated. A decision that most of us could never imagine making, and an incredibly difficult one for her. However, following the operation, the majority of tremendous pain she was experiencing was alleviated and the change to her mental wellbeing. . . . .

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Nov 29

What a week!

Update posted by Mari and Cal at 07:49 am

One week since Legless went public. And what a week! £7590 from 188 backers in 7 days! 203 Facebook likes, 19 Twitter followers, and numerous heartfelt and hilarious shares (thank you Ben for reminding us of Emma's scary side!). The word 'wow' has been used by us at least once. . . . .

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Donors & Comments

526 donors
  • Miklós Szabó
  • Donated on Jul 25, 2022
£15.00
  • Micky Forster
  • Donated on Oct 10, 2017
  • Keep on running Gilly! It's a wonderful thing you are doing.

£10.00
  • Sandra Akintola
  • Donated on Oct 06, 2017
  • I finally did it Amy, wishing Emma the very best.

£20.00
  • Jenny Gray
  • Donated on Oct 04, 2017
  • Very best of luck with the fundraising. Congrats to Amy H on successfully completing the Cardiff Half.

£10.00
  • Baljit Dhillon
  • Donated on Oct 03, 2017
  • Well done Gilly! such a great effort and such a brilliant cause

£10.00
  • Gilly Clyde-Smith
  • Donated on Oct 02, 2017
  • Sponsorship from Turn2us - cash sponsors

£25.00
  • Chris Halton
  • Donated on Oct 02, 2017
  • Well done Gilly, great job! Great cause too. x

£10.00
  • Sam Brown
  • Donated on Oct 02, 2017
  • well done Amy Holgate on doing the cardiff half! x

£10.00
  • Lynn Shortt
  • Donated on Oct 02, 2017
£10.00
  • Allison Angell
  • Donated on Oct 01, 2017
  • Good luck Beth

£30.00
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Followers

107 followers
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Krzysztof Blasiak-Wal
Elena Dickie
Kathie Clark
Ben Maughan
JULIE LAWRENCE
Sarah Andrews
Samantha Monoyou
Robyn Sutlow
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£34,547
raised of £45,000.00 goal
76% Funded
526 Donors

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