Rhys Burton

D.O.B: 6/6/01

Bring Rhys Home

Rhys is a 16yr old young man living with Cerebral Palsy, following a near cot death when he was 7wks old. Rhys is unable to verbalise, feed himself, and has poor control of his upper or lower limbs, he is unable to weight bear, walk independently and was required to use a specialist buggy from the age 3 and then a wheelchair. Rhys has developmental delay, and is totally reliant on the care of others to meet all his personal care and communication needs. Despite this Rhys is a very enthusiastic and spirited young man who has worked hard to be as independent as possible despite his complex needs.

On November 2016, Rhys suffered catastrophic spinal damage. He was diagnosed as having an infection in his spine, which had dissolved part of a vertebrae, a disc and was affecting a further vertebrae. Rhys needed complete bed rest and had to remain flat in order to minimise further damage to his spine. Following antibiotic treatment it was discovered Rhys needed surgery to insert two metal rods in his back to stabilise his spine, which had split at T12 and L1 of his vertebraes.

On 28th January 2017, Rhys had spinal surgery which although was successful in stabilizing the damage, he has struggled to regain the independent movement he had prior to the operation.

Rhys will not be able to get upstairs and he will now require to use his wheelchair at all times to move around his home, school and in any other environment. He will need the help of two people for any transfers i.e. from wheelchair to shower, go to bed etc. This is in complete contrast to his life before this incident.

The Occupational Therapist, has advised because of these changes, Rhys will now require to have a toilet, bathing and bedroom downstairs.

Rhys' condition is now stable and he is attending school weekly Monday, Wednesday & Friday, with the intention of increasing to full time if and when his stamina allows.

Rhys is currently living in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital as his home does not cater for wheelchair access and needs to be renovated to accommodate him for facilities on the ground floor which they do not have at present. It will take a sizeable financial amount (approx fifty thousand pounds) to convert his home to build the facilities that he requires to return home.

Rhys’s mother Michaela is a single parent and although has support from her mother and friends, also requires support during this difficult time. Michaela has now spent 10 months residing at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital to care for Rhys. It has been described by certain quarters as bed blocking.

Rhys is my next door neighbour and we are running the Glasgow Half Marathon to help raise funds.

Please Help Bring Rhys Home