Dan update
It is mostly very good news, which is lovely. Vicky says:
Hi everyone
Dan has asked me to thank all of you for your incredible generosity, and for your endless kind thoughts. The whole family has been stunned and humbled by the response to the Help Dan campaign. Dan is now quite a celebrity in the South-East of England, having been on all the news channels and in most major newspapers. Alas, yes, he is now more famous than me. :)
The amazing news is that we have reached our target of £90,000 so we are able to bring Dan home as soon as he is well enough to travel. Dan's dad, my Uncle John, has found a small air ambulance company who seem perfect for what we need. They will be using a Lear jet (NOT JEALOUS AT ALL!) because it flies fast and low if necessary, to scoot Dan home asap. They will never be more than thirty minutes from land in case of emergency, which means a rather torturous route from Bogota up the east coast of America and Canada, around the edge of Greenland, then to Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and the northern tip of Scotland before heading down to Luton Airport. The total flight time will be 16 hours, not ideal for someone in Dan's condition but the plane will be stuffed full of medical staff (Dan's mum Carolyn will be the only non-crew person on board). From Luton he will be transferred to Stoke Mandeville Spinal Unit, where he has been offered a place on account of his newfound celebrity. The unit has been planning a publicity drive for 2010 and they want Dan - handsome, tragically injured, and with a great backstory - to be their figurehead. Dan will need extensive skin graft surgery on the bedsore which now covers his entire back, and then he'll be in the spinal rehabilitation unit indefinitely. He will be able to receive mail and visitors by pre-arrangement.
We are going to continue with the fund-raising in order to buy Dan the best equipment for his new life. Much of this depends on what movement he regains below his chin. Currently he can breathe unaided for short periods but is otherwise on a respirator via a tracheotomy; he can move his head slightly; and he can eat and digest normally. He has reported some sensation in his upper left arm, which is a very hopeful sign that he might regain the use of one or two fingers; obviously this would make a huge difference to the type of equipment available to him. Dan is in good spirits at the moment, coming to terms with what has happened and massively comforted by the response of people all over the world, most of whom have never met him. With your help, we have proved to him that he has a life worth living. There is a long road ahead, but he has an awful lot of company along the way.
If you still wish to make a donation, or know someone who might, this is the official website:
http://www.justgiving.com/casa-alianza-emergency
If you are on Facebook, you are very welcome to join the HELP DAN page, which has over 8,000 members already. Dan reads the page every day (his fame in Colombia is such that the director of the hospital has given him exclusive internet access in his ITU room!) and loves seeing the messages and photos.
Thank you again, on behalf of Dan and my entire family.
Vicky x
(Me: Oh, the power of the internet, you guys... warm and fuzzies all round.)
Hi everyone
Dan has asked me to thank all of you for your incredible generosity, and for your endless kind thoughts. The whole family has been stunned and humbled by the response to the Help Dan campaign. Dan is now quite a celebrity in the South-East of England, having been on all the news channels and in most major newspapers. Alas, yes, he is now more famous than me. :)
The amazing news is that we have reached our target of £90,000 so we are able to bring Dan home as soon as he is well enough to travel. Dan's dad, my Uncle John, has found a small air ambulance company who seem perfect for what we need. They will be using a Lear jet (NOT JEALOUS AT ALL!) because it flies fast and low if necessary, to scoot Dan home asap. They will never be more than thirty minutes from land in case of emergency, which means a rather torturous route from Bogota up the east coast of America and Canada, around the edge of Greenland, then to Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and the northern tip of Scotland before heading down to Luton Airport. The total flight time will be 16 hours, not ideal for someone in Dan's condition but the plane will be stuffed full of medical staff (Dan's mum Carolyn will be the only non-crew person on board). From Luton he will be transferred to Stoke Mandeville Spinal Unit, where he has been offered a place on account of his newfound celebrity. The unit has been planning a publicity drive for 2010 and they want Dan - handsome, tragically injured, and with a great backstory - to be their figurehead. Dan will need extensive skin graft surgery on the bedsore which now covers his entire back, and then he'll be in the spinal rehabilitation unit indefinitely. He will be able to receive mail and visitors by pre-arrangement.
We are going to continue with the fund-raising in order to buy Dan the best equipment for his new life. Much of this depends on what movement he regains below his chin. Currently he can breathe unaided for short periods but is otherwise on a respirator via a tracheotomy; he can move his head slightly; and he can eat and digest normally. He has reported some sensation in his upper left arm, which is a very hopeful sign that he might regain the use of one or two fingers; obviously this would make a huge difference to the type of equipment available to him. Dan is in good spirits at the moment, coming to terms with what has happened and massively comforted by the response of people all over the world, most of whom have never met him. With your help, we have proved to him that he has a life worth living. There is a long road ahead, but he has an awful lot of company along the way.
If you still wish to make a donation, or know someone who might, this is the official website:
http://www.justgiving.com/casa-alianza-emergency
If you are on Facebook, you are very welcome to join the HELP DAN page, which has over 8,000 members already. Dan reads the page every day (his fame in Colombia is such that the director of the hospital has given him exclusive internet access in his ITU room!) and loves seeing the messages and photos.
Thank you again, on behalf of Dan and my entire family.
Vicky x
(Me: Oh, the power of the internet, you guys... warm and fuzzies all round.)