Do you shop online? If so, why not register with The Giving Machine - an easy way of supporting charities at no cost to you.

Just register with the site, set Spinal Research as your chosen charity and then shop! A percentage of your purchase will be donated to the charity by the retailer. Big name online shops are part of the scheme such as Amazon, Asda, Tesco and eBay.

So far Spinal Research only have two supporters on the site, raising a total of £2.78 – not great. Please sign up today and support this charity which did so much for Neil, Kazumi and Sam.

We’d like to thank everyone who made a donation to Spinal Research in memory of Neil, Kazumi and Sam. To date, £7500 has been raised.  You can of course still make a donation to Spinal Research.

Today it is Neil’s birthday and we remember him with love.

Picture used with permission of Spinal Research

While we are truly touched by all the thoughts and kind words sent by people who didn’t know the family, we wanted to create a space where those who knew the Putticks can leave their messages and share their memories. If you knew them, please add your message as a comment on this post.

One of the last things Neil and Kazumi said was ‘please don’t forget Sam’. All the messages and tributes here show that this wish is being fulfilled.

If you didn’t know the Putticks but would like to share your thoughts please leave a comment on the announcement post (tragic news) or their Spinal Research memorial page.

It is with great sadness we have to share the terrible news about Neil, Kazumi and Sam. Sam died from meningitis on Friday and it seems that Neil and Kazumi took their own lives shortly after that.

We are all very shocked at this terrible news and thinking of everyone who cared for Sam or were close to Neil and Kazumi who are dealing with this tragic situation.

We are all better for knowing them and Sam could not have wished for better parents.

Update (3/6/09): Thank you all for your overwhelming love and support, all your kind words are greatly appreciated. People always say how messages of support are a comfort, and they truly are. Many of you have also asked where you can make donations. We know of no better place than Spinal Research who have now set up a donation page specifically to remember Sam, Neil and Kazumi. We will update this site in due course with details of how we wish to remember the Puttick family.

Hi Sam,

Happy belated birthday! 
 
This is a photo we took while we were in Teton National Park in Wyoming – a really beautiful place for hiking and wildlife. We saw moose, deer, bison and eagles – it was great. 
 
We hope to see you at some point in the near future and wish you all the very best.
 
Take care and lots of love, Dan and Ken xxxxxx

Happy 5th birthday on Friday. We hope you have a lovely day. Big birthday hugs from us all.

We have previously talked about the walking machine Sam uses. You can see a video of him using it on YouTube.

Rather than shutting down our successful and fun book boxes we are keen to carry them on to raise money for other causes. After some discussion the Peterborough team have decided to share the fundraising between RNIB, Heartlink and Spinal Research. Decisions will come from Judd Street and Birmingham soon.

Hi Sam,

I joined Opera, the web browser, after leaving RNIB because they do such a good job on accessibility and I wanted to contribute to that. I work with an amazing team where we talk and write about web standards and accessibility in Dev Opera.

Here is my team and the rest of the marketing folks in Northern Norway while at a team meeting. The picture was taken having just eaten hot dogs and drank some very odd tasting hot drink and gone tobogganing.

Perhaps next time we should get toboggans shaped liked tractors!

Henny xoxo

RNIB’s Birmingham office was the last office to have their post Christmas raffle. Although a smallish regional office, they still managed to raise £129. This is thanks to the generosity of the staff and also to those who donated fantastic prizes from across the organisation. There were 21 prizes from Champagne and chocolates to cheeseboard with knives and mug and coaster set. Some staff were luckier than others - one person won three times!