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Prosthetics for Matt
Matt almost certainly shouldn’t be around to receive our help. If he wasn’t the most stubborn man I know, and of good Grimsby stock, then he’d surely be gone by now. Death came for him multiple times back in November of 2022. His care team gave him a much less than 1% chance of survival. They considered turning off the life support machines at various points. He technically died several times in Exeter ITU. But as I said, he’s stubborn, and three and a half years on he’s still fighting the good fight, albeit minus two legs, a few digits and supported by a transplanted kidney.
For the first time since Death picked a fight with him, Matt has finally accepted the offer of my help and I’m hoping that collectively we can achieve something special.
Matt was a fit 49-year old man with a beautiful wife and two smashing young daughters, when illness showed up at his door.
He felt slightly unwell over the last weekend of October 2022, but passed it off as man flu. By Tuesday his lips and ears were turning blue and was rushed by ambulance to Exeter hospital with frightening low oxygen stats and an unrecordable blood pressure.
On admittance Doctors discovered that a severe pneumococcal infection had developed into sepsis, causing catastrophic damage throughout his body. Matt was placed into a medically induced coma and spent 75 days in hospital fighting for his life.
Tissue damage was severe. Infection followed and the care team were obliged to remove his legs below the knee in order to give him a chance of life. He’d also lose both index fingers and part of his left ear. His kidneys failed and dialysis kept him alive until a transplant could be arranged in 2024. He suffered multiple heart attacks, acute liver damage and various lung complications. Ali, his wife, was called multiple times and prepped to prepare for the end. Matt refused to die.
When Matt finally left hospital, he weighed just 45 kilograms, having entered as a healthy, active man weighing 82 kilograms.
Although his family and friends were overjoyed that he had survived, Matt faced an entirely new battle: learning how to live again. The physical injuries were immense, but so too were the emotional challenges. Depression and despair followed, and rebuilding his confidence became as important as rebuilding his physical health.
ARC mental health services set about repairing his mind and the team at UK Bionics set about rebuilding his body.
I’ve spoken to Simon from UK Bionics (www.ukbionics.co.uk) They are a prosthetics and rehabilitation provider based in Exeter. Founded by clinicians with extensive experience across military and private-sector trauma rehabilitation, the team there has spent many years supporting people with complex, life-changing injuries, like Matt’s, delivering advanced prosthetic solutions alongside intensive, multidisciplinary rehabilitation. Their team, along with Matt's stubborn refusal to remain so broken, have brought him back to a point where he is able to participate in normal life again. Simon has spelt out, in detail, how much specialist prosthetics could now transform Matt’s independence and quality of life. Advanced technology would allow him greater mobility, improve his comfort, and help him participate more fully in family life with Ali and their daughters.
The goal is the Ottobok empower foot which come in at an eyewatering sum of 180k for a pair, but anything will be an improvement on the current NHS kit he’s using.
If you are able to donate, thank you.
Let’s see how much we can help him.
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 2nd November 2026 at 11:25am