Wick family’s desperate plea for a new home

Graeme Strange, of Courtwick Road, Wick, used to be a fit, active dad. But in November, 2011, he was struck with a mystery illness which ravaged his brain.

The 43-year-old former removal man spent almost a year in Worthing Hospital fighting for his life, with much of this time on a life support machine.

“I really shouldn’t be here,” he admitted. “Only seven people in the whole world have had this infection and I’m only the second person to survive it.

“It’s been horrible. It’s really affected my life so much. I only have the use of one hand, my short-term memory is bad and I have hyper sensitive skin.

“I remember going to bed with a glass of orange juice and then waking up months later, weighing five stone and wondering what happened to me.”

Graeme, who lives with his wife, Jo, and their four children, initially suffered from a chest infection.

However, this rapidly evolved into a rare autoimmune disease which caused his own body’s immune system to attack healthy cells.

He said that since he left hospital, almost two years ago, he has been left a prisoner inside his own home.

“It’s very degrading,” he added. “I can only really stay in this one room. When I have to go to the toilet, it is in front of everyone.”

Wife Jo, 34, is now Graeme’s full-time carer. She said the family desperately needed a bigger home, to give her husband a better quality of life and more privacy.

“All we need is an extra bedroom and downstairs toilet,” she said. “Right now when he needs to go to the toilet it’s right by our kitchen, so if the kids need a drink they have to wait.

“It’s a horrible situation. We really just want someone to help us.”

The family had approached Arun District Council initially to see if their rental home could be adapted.

However, the council said this would not be possible and would cost too much – upward of £40,000.

Arun did find a potential four bedroom home in East Preston that was specially adapted for disabled people.

However, Jo – who doesn’t drive – said this was unsuitable as it was too far from their current support network of family and friends.

“We need a place nearby, close to the children’s school. Also, I don’t want to leave Graeme on his own for too long,” Jo added.

A spokeswoman for Arun said: “We are, of course, very sympathetic to Mr Strange’s change in circumstances and to the difficulties faced by the whole family due to their new housing needs, but the kind of accommodation requested is not readily available in the area that Mr Strange requires.”

Jo and Graeme are now appealing for any readers who want to downsize their home or who possibly want to have a mutual property exchange to come forward.

“It would mean so much if someone could help us. There must be someone out there,” Jo said.

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