Spinal Research donations

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

Sam’s stuff – thanks to you

Happy New Year from Sam!

Can we say a huge, heartfelt thank you to everyone who has helped Sam over the three years that stuff4sam has been going. Reaching the unbelievable milestone of £30,000 is an incredible achievement by everyone involved. I want everyone to know that every single penny of that money has gone to buy equipment for Sam that directly benefits him. You have given Sam a chance to explore, to learn, to exercise and to live freely – which would have been impossible without the tools you have given him.

Thank you’s

These are just a few of the massive thank you’s we have to mention:
 
For those of you who raised money for the Kimba chair: this was Sam’s first chair out of hospital and has withstood so many adventures; racing along canal pathways with his friends standing on the front, bumping along muddy fields on Exmoor and flying all the way to Japan! It has been Sam’s workhorse and we cannot believe it has never broken down!
 
For everyone who raised money for Sam’s FES bicycle: this one piece of equipment has quite simply been the single most important factor in keeping Sam healthy. Every other day Sam rides 4 miles, exercising his heart, his muscles, his circulation, his bone development, everything a mobile person would benefit from and more. We cannot overstate how important this has been and will ensure Sam grows healthy and strong.
 
For everyone who raised money for Sam’s arm supports: thank you for letting Sam see himself move his arms. The supports ‘float’ on springs and exaggerates any movement. By moving Sam’s neck muscles, he can raise his shoulders a little which in turn move his arms. This is enough to paint a picture, put his hand in dough to make bread and to stroke Cosmos our dog. If we didn’t have this, Sam would never see his own movement, now he can see what an amzingly strong little chap he is!
 
For my friends that raised money for the walking machine: Sam can walk, run or jump on this treadmill, with a little help from four people around him supporting him! It is truely wonderful to see Sams face look at himself in the mirror with his little eyse saying ‘look what I can do’! It is hard to believe that he is totally paralysed below the neck when you see him walking there, he looks like he should just walk of the treadmill all by himself!
 
For those that enabled us to get the Kimba Cross off-road buggy: everywhere the other wheelchair couldn’t go, this one could! By taking off the seat of one wheelchair, we could put it on kimba cross wherever we went. It has taken us on beaches in cornwall, rockpooling in Devon, through streams in Somerset, herding sheep on our friends farm, surviving flash floods in summer and cycling along country lanes in search of tractors! This has given Sam the freedom to think, that nothing will stop him. There is nothing more heartbreaking than to see Sam stop at a beach because his chair would not be able to go down to the sea where all the other children are playing. Now he can go down there with ease and splash through the waves as fast as Dad can push him! There have been many punctures and there will be many more!
 
For everyone that has helped buy Sam’s computer mouse which is our most recent purchase: I was thrilled for Sam when this arrived because he doesn’t know it yet but this will transform his life. We have spent two years searching for something for Sam so he can use a computer as easily as everyone else, not limiting him because he is such a clever little boy. Within hours of getting this Sam was using a joystick with his mouth to trace the letters of his name and even using both mouth joysticks to play a piano on his computer. I really mean it when I feel that this will revolutionise his life, for him to write, paint, play, explore everything a computer has to offer and only now is this whole new world opening up to him as he starts school. The sky is not the limit any more!
 
And finally to a very kind team at Lego, who thanks to this website saw that Sam was a child who needed something a bit different to enable him to play. They very kindly donated a little robot that Sam can control via arrows on the computer to make the robot move anywhere he wants. At the moment Sam is enjoying moving (and bumping!) it everywhere, but has the potential to grow with him and be an absolutely amazing tool for play, education and invention. Thank you to them for letting Sam just play.
 
You have given these tools to Sam. What can I say? I am a dad who just wants to see my son grow healthy and happy. You have given us as a family a chance to see our son grow, despite the accident, into the same person he would always have been. Without these tools, he would not be as healthy, as happy or the same boy. You have given him the opportunity, and for that I will always be thankful.

What’s next?

With the money we have now, we are in the process of making our last purchase to buy an FES machine for Sam’s upper body. From the same company and fitting onto the same bike as the FES bike, it will give him all the benefits for his upper body, so we can see his little muscles on his arms grow stronger and his spasms there will reduce. Sam has now grown enough to use it, so he will soon be the fittist one among us… and you never know how this will benefit the strength in his shoulders.
 
We feel it is a good time, and a good milestone to give people a rest from all the fundraising, the organisation and effort they have put in for Sam. Even though many people have never met Sam, you have taken him to your hearts and I will always make sure he knows that there are people in this who have given everything and asked for nothing.
 
We can now prove to the authorties and bodies that the equipment we have bought by fundraising are an essential part of Sam’s life, and by proving this, it will make it easier to maintain and supply this equipment throughout Sam’s life, so we do not have to keep fundraising for many years to come.

But stuff4sam will continue. Rather than fundraising it will be used to give updates about Sam and to connect Sam’s community around the world. Keep sending your hi sam messages and adding your comments. We do so love to see them and to know that you are thinking about Sam.

To the future! Spinal Research

Spinal Research is a charity that is in desperate need for funds, but could transform the life of Sam and hundreds of thousands of people like Sam.
 
As a family we live life now, but I wait for the day that Sam does not have to go through the medical proceedures he has to go through everyday to keep him alive. I wait for the day that I hear that there has been a breakthrough.
 
They are so close to a cure for Spinal Cord Injury that in just a few years, it could be us that helped the scientists and doctors achieve what a just two decades ago was thought to be impossible. It could be a complete repair to the spinal cord allowing people like Sam to breathe again, to walk and to touch and to feel.
 
If you can help Spinal Research in any way, with all the energy and enthusiasm that you have shown in such an amazing way, it would help Sam in a new direction, giving new hope and a completely different life.

After everything the accident has taken away from him, his breathing, his movement, his exploration, his independence, you have given him the greatest freedom. Sam loves his life and he is simply the happiest boy in the world. You are the ones that have made this possible.
 
Our warmest thanks to you all, we will always be truely grateful for what you have done for us.
 
Neil, Kazumi and Sam 

£30,000!

What a difference a day makes! Thanks to more generous donations and an unexpected raffle in Peterborough we have hit and exceeded our target of £30,000! Hence the new shiny gold totaliser (I couldn’t make it flash!)

When we started raising money for Sam in December 2005, we were stunned by people’s generosity and gave ourselves a wildly ambitious target of raising £20,000. When we reached this we extended our target and today got there.

I can’t express to you all enough, the difference this money makes to Sam and his family. So, thanks to all who visit this site, have donated time, money and hi Sams to make it all happen. Watch this space for a message from Sam and family soon as well as news of how the money has been spent and future plans.

Happy Christmas one and all.

£29,000!

Totaliser showing £29K

Today we hit the mighty £29,000 mark! The latest £1000 was from donations, books and the Peterborough sale. Huge thanks as ever to all involved.

Now the big 3-0 by Christmas sounds realistic! Our big push will be at the Judd Street Christmas S4S sale / event on 2 December. If you have a talent for making stuff we could sell or have something to donate to the raffle please get in touch – stuff4sam@gmail.com We want to hear from you – don’t be shy! Don’t forget that every penny of the money raised goes straight to Sam.

Happy New Year from Neil, Kazumi and Sam

Dear All

Just a quick note to say thank you so much for Sam’s Christmas present – it was absolutely perfect. I love reading poems to Sam, and Kazumi and I are always searching for Japanese related books for him. Even though Sam says ‘I’m not Japanese, I’m English’ I’m determined he’ll be better at – Japanese than me… (though that’s not saying much!). It was so thoughtful of you – thank you very much.

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year and it’s not too terrible to be back. It was so lovely to see you again before Christmas and it’s such a shame we missed some of you. Sam was overwhelmed by it all and very excited on the way back – we couldn’t get a word in edgeways! But I hope we can come up again soon as we have to come up for other reasons soon too and would love to pop in again. It was really really great to have such a warm welcome and we simply cannot express to you how much your help has been. It makes us feel welcome and not alone in this weird place we find ourselves.

Sam had a lovely Christmas here. Lots of presents, lovely walks and he was so well and happy. Alex and Angela stayed for Christmas and Alex’s Mum and Dad came over and brought us two goldfish! The Aquarium makes a great place for Sam’s Playmobil diver and boat set! The fish get a bit freaked out though. Alex and his family are Sam’s new extended family and he absolutely adores them. He was so overwhelmed on Christmas day by all the love and kindness he actually became quite emotional.. but then I think I would if I had just been given a playmobil aircraft set and tractor front loader!

Sam is growing up so quickly and so intelligent and mischievous. Even over the last few lovely weeks of Christmas we have seen his mind race away with ways of getting more presents. One of his favourite sayings now if ‘if I’m a good boy now, can I have another present after dinner?. When he’s confident with people, even though Sam can’t move below his neck, he fills a room with his character and chat and it is an absolute joy to us to see what he will say next. All this from a boy that was given no chance of survival after the accident. He is our biggest Christmas wish every single moment!

I hope the New Year brings peace and happiness to you all. Kazumi and I are happy if we both keep on breathing and walking every single day that brings us closer to Sam walking again – and we can rest assured that Sam will make sure that 2008 will be one hell of a wonderful ride!

We have so many fun plans for 2008 – I hope you can all share them with us!

With our best wishes

Neil, Kazumi and Sam

21k!

 

Another totaliser to show that we have reached another landmark – £21,346 to be precise!

Here are more thank yous to the people that helped us get there. Here we go in no particular order:

• Fran and Ruth who raised £435.70 from their sponsored run. You may think that was an unusual total and you’d be right. The 50p came from Dave the Donkey and 20p from an unnamed chicken. Er, right! This might be the start of a whole new group of supporters?
• book sales – an un-named donor gave a large collection of new books for us to sell raising approx £100. From card making to life coaching, there was something for everyone!
• Sally Cain Cards who donated a percentage of sales to Stuff4Sam
• book boxes around the country – sales continue to generate substantial funds. Thanks to all who donate, buy or manage books.

That’s it! Watch this space for the next totaliser, hopefully coming soon!

A cheer of donations

Not sure what the collective noun is for donations (answers on a postcard please) so thought of a new one – a cheer of donations. Anyway, that’s what we have had today.

Big thanks to people who chose to celebrate Sam’s birthday in this way and helped us get ever closer to the £20k mark. Special thanks go to Copeland Day Centre in Peterborough for their support.

Find out how you can make a donation.

More thank you’s

Big thanks go out to two Day Centres in Peterborough who have given us donations.

The Cresset Day Centre and Copeland Day Centre donated £43.00 and £33.00 respectively. They are attended by the father of one of the receptionists at the Peterborough office, Vivien Punter. The people who attend – all elderly – put in their small change and at the end of a certain time, the money is donated to a charity they wish to support.

Thank you to all concerned.

£18,000!

Yes, its true – we have reached £18,000!

Only the other day we were hoping that we might make it to £18k by the end of February. Well, one phone call was all it took! We called Royal Mail to chase where the mail sent to the stuff4sam PO Box had gone and the next day there were four cheques on the mat! What impressive customer service!

Huge thanks go out to friends of Neil, Kazumi and Sam who collectively have donated £1250. We are stunned and touched by your generosity.

What’s next….

The next serious goal is the big 2-0! Sam’s third birthday is on 13 March. It would be really something to have raised £20,000 to mark this occasion.

Donations and events have been promised but now is the time to put monies and mouths together! If you want to do something, now is the time! Lets pull out all the stops to reach this target!

There are some donations already on their way, the London and Peterborough book boxes are still going strong and a London post-Christmas, pre-everything else sale is planned for Friday 9 March. But is it enough? We need your help to make Sam’s birthday a super special one!

A big thank you

A big thank you to Paul, Cindy, Christina, Amanda, Latisha, Tanya and Peter Stockting who have raised a massive £5,000!

This is a huge amount that, when added to the total raised so far takes us over the £20k mark!