Henry is the disabled son of an Army veteran, Lee, and his wife, Natalie. Aged four, Henry was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a rare life-limiting, muscle-wasting condition. We provided a grant of £13,500 to help fund essential adaptions to the family home. Henry is now able to get outside into the garden in his wheelchair, to enjoy time with the family.
Henry lives with his parents, Lee and Natalie, older sister Evie, and their dog, Dave. Aged four, he was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. This progressive muscle-wasting disease initially affects the lower half of the body, then eventually affects all muscles in the body including the heart and lungs. Henry is now a full-time wheelchair user.
Henry’s father, Lee, served in the 1st Battalion, the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment (1 PWRR) from 1992 to 1997. After leaving, he missed being in the Army and rejoined 1 PWRR in 2002 until 2011, reaching the rank of Corporal. He was deployed on operational tours to Northern Ireland and Iraq, served in Germany, and undertook exercises overseas.
During Henry’s early childhood, his mother, Natalie, spotted that he did not seem to be meeting growth milestones. She asked for tests and had many visits to doctors and health practitioners, but ultimately felt there was no option other than to seek a diagnosis privately. Lee says: “It was quite a brutal shock when we received the positive genetic test. As time goes on you just learn to live with it, but it’s not easy, and both of us have struggled.” Henry is now home-schooled, enjoys company, and attends after-school activities with friends.
Lee approached our partner charity, SSAFA, to assist with funding improvements to their home. While the family had been awarded a Disabled Facilities Grant via social services, this only partially covered the costs of an extension of their house to meet Henry’s needs. And they could not afford to pay the remaining amount for these adaptations.
Lee says: “We exhausted every avenue – borrowing from family, requesting additional loans, and increasing our mortgage to meet some of the payment to adapt our home. At the time, we had hit a low point – Natalie and I were quite stressed as we really needed to get the house completed. Leaving part of house unfinished would have made it harder for Henry to get around. We would never have gone to SSAFA if we could afford it, but we just needed some additional funding to get the house adapted for Henry and us as a family.”
SSAFA contacted the ABF for help with the family’s situation. Lee, Natalie, and their children were on a family holiday when they were given the news about the ABF grant. Lee says: “We couldn’t believe it.”
Our charity awarded £13,500 to cover the cost of adapting their home to enable Henry to access the garden from his bedroom and the living room.
Lee says: “I would just like to say a massive thank you to ABF, from us as family, for your generous grant. Henry is now able to play outside with his family and friends and with our dog, Dave. We will be eternally grateful.”