A young girl needs your help...

Hello all, long time no speak. I come begging for your help.

I'm not asking for the world but suddenly had the idea that if everybody here helped with £1 and the community pulled together it would have a huge positive impact.

In November of last year a friend of ours, Mia Austen, suffered a devastating stroke.

She literally got up in the middle of the night for a drink and collapsed. She was rushed to hospital where she was put on a life support machine. The doctors really didn't think she would make it through the night but against the odds she did. When Mia eventually opened her eyes, it took them some time to realise that she was paralysed.

This is where this story takes a horrible twist, Mia had a condition known as Locked-In Syndrome. She was paralysed entirely, the only exception being her eyes. She was 100% coherant and aware of what was going on. LIS is described as being the closest thing to being buried alive. She spends a lot of time upset and cries a lot and at the moment is communicating using eye movements to indicate letters which make up words and subsequently sentences.

It will cost £3,500 to adapt her family home in order for her to make visits, and each visit will cost in excess of £100 due to all the support she needs. Even then, she will never be allowed home permanently.

Her family, friends and her boyfriend Rich are desperate for her to come home so they are taking part in the '3 peaks challenge' in the coming weeks with a view to raising enough money to make the impossible, possible.

Mia's story has been reported in the national press, which although has been very distressing for Mia and her family have released a press statement asking them not to, has raised awareness of the cause.

Paypal donations/sponsorship is being collected in [email protected].

Given the amount we spend on cars between us, there must be room for each of us to make a very small donation to help Mia finally be in her own home, with her family, if only for a day a week. Mia may never be able to lift her arm and look at a watch, I for one am eternally grateful that I can.

Finally, thanks so much from me, Mia, her family and friends.

Kind regards

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2870157/Girl-is-a-prisoner-in-her-own-body.html

Just a little bump -

Alex85 you can take this and stick it where the sun don't shine.

If this means so much to you sell your car and give her the money, this type of bleeding hart c**p really gets my goat.

noxas said:

Alex85 you can take this and stick it where the sun don't shine.

If this means so much to you sell your car and give her the money, this type of bleeding hart c**p really gets my goat.

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That's harsh. She's just trying to help a friend raise money? Just because she cares about someone doesn't mean she should be expected to go and sell all her stuff?

Your a right COCK!!! :thumbsdown:

noxas said:

Alex85 you can take this and stick it where the sun don't shine.

If this means so much to you sell your car and give her the money, this type of bleeding hart c**p really gets my goat.

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There's really no need for these sort of comments. If you don't agree with it either say so in a civilized manner or don't say anything at all.

noxas, as the others have said, there is no need whatsoever for those kind of comments.

We'll keep the thread open for the time being.

well apparently the fund has already passed the £10,000 mark, so.......?

noxas... way too harsh. Not on.

Locked in Syndrome is my absolute worst nightmare, I can imagine very little worse and I truly feel for the poor girl...

However, my gf and a close friend both work with sufferers of similar inflictions and something about this post doesn't quite add up... in (the incredibly rare) cases of LIS in this country, the NHS will cover the cost of modifications to the patient's home. There are also communication aides that are specifically made for this scenario. The days of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly are behind us.

I, in no way, mean to doubt or belittle the suffering this poor girl is going through, but could you explain exactly why the NHS is not covering these costs in this case?

Google 'Mia Austen appeal'.....theres all sorts.....including posts on other sites (which may be legitimately Alex85 in another guise) with identical wording. And one which says the appeal is way past the £10,000 mark (and now talking about buying a car for the family???), which makes this posting a bit unfairly misleading IMHO.

Charity giving is a personal issue and you can call me mean, but this kind of stuff gets the same response as people who rattle collecting boxes at me outside the supermarket.

:? :? :?

I would like to apologise for my earlier outburst, you are all quite correct it was a bit harsh and out of place.

In my own defence I have found most, but not all of these type of things turn out to be a con.

I also get very upset with e-mails about people with cancer, starving puppies, crippled donkeys and the people who stand outside supermarkets and shove colection tins in my face.

once again I apologise for my outburst.


Saxon

I can't support all charities. I have put a limit of £100 a month for donations, and that is it. They are for causes that I happen to support but I will not often go outside that (obviously get the usual "blackmail" charity run donations asked for by friends, but that is all).

The downside of regular donations is that your name is prefixed by "mug" so it seems, and you get bombarded by charities I have never heard from that want a regular contribution as well. They seem to circulate your name and contact details amongst other charities so it seems, which extremely annoys me (and so do the calls from the charities that I do support asking for an increase in monthly donations).

However, I digress from the thread but the above explains why I would not donate to individual cases.

The only monthly donation I make atm is to RSPCA. I also spend £4 a week on lottery tickets (over £200 a year). National Lottery should use the funds more wisely.

It's possible that Alex's account has been highjacked for this thread. Either that or its a real appeal with which I would wish her luck.

I'm sure the cause is just,.. but perhaps Alex could come back and give some assurance that the e-mail address / paypal account is actually in any way linked to the cause. That would help.

Personally I prefer to know the recipiant of my charitable donations. So I restrict mine to the tens of thousands I pay in tax each year for other people to send their kids to school, for the emergency services to deal with drunk wasters on a weekend, and for the security services to follow terrorist aorund night an day rather than deporting them.

Interestingly the Paypal email address that the MountainsForMia website links to is totally different to the one above.....I would politely suggest that if Alex doesn't revert and explain soonest this thread ought to be deleted in the interests of security.....

lacroupade said:

Interestingly the Paypal email address that the MountainsForMia website links to is totally different to the one above.....I would politely suggest that if Alex doesn't revert and explain soonest this thread ought to be deleted in the interests of security.....

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Quite agree... this has got scam written all over it

You would have to be pretty sad/sick to make money off the back of a real persons illness if it is a scam.
If Alexs account has been hijacked he/she ? wont even be able to log on to tell us !

This plea has been posted on BMWLand by Alex85 as well. Not casting any aspertions, just for information...

Check out this thread that he also seems to have posted....if you read this Alex, don't get a job as a fundraiser, your attitude stinks mate.

alex85, you need to contact one of the Mod about this thread and for now this thread is locked.