Fantastic year of fundraising for The Walton Centre Charity thanks to the Reay family
When Whitehaven teenager Adam Reay was playing rugby in St Helen's last year, little did he know that he would end up having to have critical spinal surgery at The Walton Centre. The then 15-year-old prop was involved in a tackle that resulted in a high level of pain in what he thought was his shoulder.
Adam, now 16, said: “I tackled a player and everyone piled on top and pain shot through my shoulder. I thought I pulled something, but I was in so much pain. When they took me to A&E to get it checked out, it was then they found that I had broken two of the bones in my neck.”
Adam was transferred urgently to The Walton Centre, where he underwent a spinal fusion to stabilize his neck and prevent further damage to the nerves. Adam was monitored in The Walton Centre for a further seven days before being allowed to go home.
Dad Lee, who was at the match when Adam had his injury, said: “When he did it he just wanted to make sure that he hadn't really hurt himself, but when the scans showed he'd broken two vertebrae, it was then a case of getting him to the right treatment asap. The Walton Centre were quick and efficient and myself and Gemma his mum had everything we needed to make the right decision for Adam when it came to surgery.”
Lee and Adam's granddad Stephen were able to stay in The Walton Centre Charity funded relatives' accommodation Home from Home. This facility allows relatives of patients needing urgent and emergency care to stay close to their loved ones.
Gemma said: “Being able to stay in Home from Home was a Godsend. Being three hours away from home, it would've made it impossible to commute there and see him, and with him being so young I wanted to make sure we were nearby for everything he might need.”
After being able to go home to continue his recovery, Adam, his family and his rugby teams decided to start fundraising for the hospital's charity. Their latest challenge included a bike ride from their home in Whitehaven to The Walton Centre's Sid Watkins Building, raising over £4,000 - split evenly between The Walton Centre Charity and Kells Youth Rugby.
Adam has been able to rejoin the Kells under 16s rugby team since his injury, and has since started playing games again.
Adam continued: “I had amazing care from when I stayed at The Walton Centre, and being able to have my family nearby for the crucial first few days meant everything. So how could we not fundraise to show our love and support? I'm so pleased to be back playing rugby, it's a big achievement considering what happened. I'm proud to be back.”
To date, the Reay family has raised £4,500 for the Home from Home relatives' accommodation, and thousands more for the hospital generally.
Head of Fundraising Madeleine Fletcher said: “We're blown away by the level of support this young man and his family and friends have showed us over the last year. Their fundraising means so many more families will be able to stay nearby when their loved ones need them most. For that we give them a huge thank you.”
Support their latest fundraising campaign here.
Notes to editors
Further information, or to arrange an interview, please contact the Communications Team at The Walton Centre on 0151 556 3397 or wcft.communications@nhs.net
The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust is the only hospital trust in the UK specialising in neurology, neurosurgery and pain services. Although the majority of patients come from Merseyside, Cheshire, North Wales, Lancashire and the Isle of Man, for some specialist treatments of complex disorders we see patients from all parts of the country, referred by their GPs or other neurologists, neurosurgeons and pain clinicians.
The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust was rated as 'Outstanding' by the Care Quality Commission. The independent regulator of all health and social care services in England published its rating on Friday 21 October 2016, following announced and unannounced inspection visits to the Trust in April 2016.
For more information please visit: www.thewaltoncentre.nhs.uk or follow the Trust on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.
The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, Lower Lane, Fazakerley, Liverpool L9 7LJ
0151 525 3611