My mum was my world, as she began to lose hers, with Oculus I was able to build her a new one… She was an absolutely amazing lady who travelled to Northern Ireland from Rhyl to help me with my business during the pandemic, She had complained of having a bad back for a number of months before moving over to me and being in the middle of the pandemic Drs were advising her to take paracetamols and ibuprofen which had little affect on the pain. She was happy enough doing the books for me and very light work at my shop until one day (within a month of arriving) she explained numbness in her thighs; with this we immediately went to A and E and that was the last time my mum walked freely. The following day she was undergoing spinal reconstruction surgery as the tumour had crushed her spine causing the numbness and of course the pain, she stayed in hospital until being placed in Palliative care. Soon after understanding she wouldn’t be coming home again I closed my business and took on a job working nights as a support worker freeing up time to visit her as regularly as I could.. My mum could use the Zimmer frame for the second and third week of being admitted to the hospital and then lost complete use of her legs I took her out in the wheelchair for walks but it soon became too uncomfortable and the reality that she was going to confined within the same four walls soon became apparent.
I found this very hard to accept and my mum struggled as she had always been active, She would clean the house before it got untidy, she would go to 15 shops to get her shopping list at the best prices she was grafter and couldn’t sit still so It really didn’t suit her. I had recently purchased a Oculus Quest 2 VR for my eldest as a Birthday present and we decided one day when visiting to bring that along and see if my mum would give it a go.. This was the first day in a while my mum was able to escape the four walls and explore the world again, she went under water, to Paris, to see the northern lights, she went up mountains, in boats through forests of monkeys, she got up close and personal with big cats, she rode rollercoasters and she even walked a plank :) for the months to follow she would ask me before I set off to visit if I was bringing the rollercoaster with me, she had plans of different things she wanted to see and I would spend time trying to plan different days for her downloading things to suit her preferences and things that I knew she had never done before.
For those special times she was free and there were no limits she didn’t need her legs she didn’t need to be hoisted out of bed she just had to sit up and let me do the rest.
I owe a lot to Oculus for the memories I’ll always have with my mum before she passed it was a very long 12 months but she saw more of the world in that room than she had her entire life and I’ll always have that to hold onto.
Everyone I know who I’ve mentioned it to have said how much of a great idea it was and it’s had me thinking if it brought so much joy to my mum why can’t it do the same for others in her situation.
I am not looking to get rich quick and I don’t want to turn this into a sob story because it’s really not. Yes what happened happened but the main gist of this is the escape my mum got in that time and the joy the VR was able to bring to her.
I want to be able purchase a number of VR’s and download various genres into them.
I was thinking to have 1 for racing 1 for the sea 1 for travel for animals various experiences which can be chosen by residents or their families in similar situations, I would like to able to offer aids such as steering wheels special effects and create even more realistic experiences.
I’m currently not in a position to facilitate anything like the vision I have I can’t even pay to create a website or spare enough to purchase my first Oculus Quest for trials at the moment.
The plans to start small with a website and be able to offer free trials to all residents in homes locally, whilst working on the business plan and finding like minded people who would be willing to join me.. Being a support worker I think really helps I am now trained to work with a variety of different people with various illnesses and the experience with my mum has made me really good at my job and my job in turn has made me a better dad to my kids I just feel like I could be doing so much more with my time and I know there are so many people facing the same fate as my mum was and I know the VR can really help them through the tough times ahead give them something to look forward to and allow the families to feel the way I do, as it has been very comforting to know she experienced so much before the end.
I would like for people to understand this is more personal request for me to be able to do this with others and if it could be built into a nationwide business then brilliant because then the profits can go towards making it more accessible for those less fortunate.. throughout my mums time at the home she was assessed financially and given an allowance of £27 a week this is not uncommon so this really does have to be affordable it’s not about the money, if there’s a chance of making this accessible to even those with that kind of budget then we’ve succeeded. Nobody should feel as though they can’t afford to escape and nobody should have to be confined to the same four walls for their remaining months.
It might not be for everyone but for those willing to give it a go it’s life changing in that situation I’m quite confident of that.