Heartbeat: Carl crowdfunds for critical care

April 11, 2019

In February 2018, Carl Richards was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer and during an operation to remove the cancer, things took a turn for the worse when he suddenly developed sepsis and ended up fighting for his life in the critical care unit at Sandwell.

During his time with the critical care team, Carl’s family rallied around him, fearing the worst but hoping for the best. They visited day in and day out, hoping for their doting dad to make a quick recovery.

Carl spent a total of nine days on the critical care unit and during this time, he was sedated and required ventilator support. As soon as he was fit and well, he couldn’t stop singing the praises of the team who cared for him, vowing to repay the kindness they showed him. It was this promise that his daughter Jenny took to heart and it spurred her on to start a crowdfunding campaign to bring her father’s wishes to life.

Jenny said: “When we saw dad in hospital, we knew we had to fundraise as soon as he was recovered and although he still has some way to go with chemotherapy, my wife Heidi and I decided to run the Birmingham Half Marathon in aid of the critical care unit.

“We initially hoped to raise £2,000 but donations came flooding in from friends and family and before we knew it, we had doubled our initial target, bringing in a total of £4,655.

“The level of support and care that not only Carl but the rest of the family received during an extremely difficult time, was worthy of far more than we could ever give back. We, along with friends and family, have raised this money in an attempt to show our appreciation and more importantly, to help provide the few extra touches that will continue to speed up recovery for anyone under critical care in the future.”

Welcoming Carl back to critical care fell to Matron, Amber Markham and her team, who were delighted to see a patient who was once hooked up to ventilators and monitors walk through the doors of the unit, looking fit and well.

Amber said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to see Carl doing so well. He’s had a long road to recovery but this is a wonderful surprise.

The money that Carl and his family have raised will go a long way in purchasing equipment to provide our patients with that extra level of comfort and will help to create a more relaxing environment. We are looking to buy mood lighting to assist with sleep and electronic equipment to aid rehabilitation.”