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Charlie's Virtual Bucket List
Aylesbury, England, United Kingdom
Aim
My incredible Medical Alert doggy, Charlie is gravely ill with cancer in his heart. He needs life-extending surgery to remove it
Update 4
Over £7000...I had no idea that so many people knew Charlie, or know him from others and are prepared to help save his life.
This appeal was set up to cover the cost of the tumour operation. We have achieved that! There have been other significant vet's fees (far in excess of the cost of the surgery). I'll keep the appeal going so that we can hopefully cover even more of the fees for this wonderful doggy, so please continue to share, you are amazing.
Sadly there are too many of you to thank properly, although I will try to when next we meet. So please accept this as a MASSIVE thank-you from me and Charlie.
This is a shout out to anyone who has met my amazing Medical Alert doggy, Charlie. If you've met him, I think he will have touched your life in some small way.
He changed mine completely, and continues to do that every single day.
I have an extremely unusual medical condition and before Charlie I was a reclusive, broken, down-and-out who would frequently be taken into various A&E departments in a state of real distress – usually both physically and mentally damaged. It's estimated that I cost the NHS in excess of £100000. I'm not proud of that.
Then I came across Medical Detection Dogs (MDD) https://www.medicaldetectiondogs.org.uk/
Everything changed. This is a truly INCREDIBLE charity that helps so many people every day; their mantra is 'Dogs Saving Lives' and it's no exaggeration.
Since Charlie came into my world 7 years ago EVERYTHING is different.
I work, play in bands, can go out – I have a near normal life.
Charlie gives me that, every day.
Cost to the NHS in the last 7 years? Zero.
Here comes the but....
Charlie collapsed at work this week and has been diagnosed with a tumour in the blood vessels in his heart and he needs surgery very soon to remove it. Even if that's successful his time with us will be limited and he'll need ongoing care. I want him to have the best quality life for however long he is with us.
Charlie is well insured, but that has long been exhausted through the consultations, scans, biopsies, operations etc that he's already been through, and there has been a lot extra on top of those costs, but that's OK; it's Charlie.
It is, however a serious and risky operation that comes at significant cost.
MDD have been, and continue to be incredibly supportive and I'll be forever grateful. It's still a relatively small charity with limited resources, and they would gladly bear the costs of this next stage but I wondered if I I might be able to get some support from people who know Charlie and have seen what an incredible guy he is. This would be a huge help to the charity.
So here goes: If you have a spare quid, please consider dropping it into Charlie's virtual bucket.
The operation will give him some more time in our world and, selfishly, keep me out of hospital (because it's a simple fact that, without Charlie, that's where my life is heading).
I don't care a great deal about that (Sorry, NHS) but for Charlie....I'll do anything.
I don't want anyone to think that MDD won't support me, that's simply not true, but I am the one who benefits from Charlie and so I feel that, with all Charlie's friends, some of the considerable costs can be raised. Please share this with absolutely EVERYONE you know who might like doggies and maybe we can raise enough....
I'm aiming for £3000 (a big ask). That won't cover the operation cost, but will go a long way towards it. If I can raise more - fantastic!
On behalf of Charlie, Thank you so much.
This project successfully funded on 5th September 2025