With deteriorating floors becoming unsafe, nurse Jon and his partner Estelle had to make the decision to stop using her powered wheelchair in their home. Faced with a large bill to make it safe again, what could the couple do to fix it and regain Estelle’s independence?   

As a young man, Jon had been moving from job to job, packing in warehouses and admin work in offices, but doing nothing ‘useful’ as he describes it.

“My older sister started her nurse training when I was 13” recalls Jon “and I remember going to visit her when she was training and it caught my interest.”

Jon’s mother suffered from chronic asthma and he remembers her having a couple of bad attacks. On the first occasion his sister was able to revive their mum and get her to hospital for treatment. Unfortunately though during the second attack shortly afterwards, she passed away. It was a traumatic time for Jon and his family but gave him resolve to think about his future.

“I decided I wanted to try nursing so I applied to do my training,” says Jon “Looking at my nursing career I think mum would be proud of what I’ve achieved now, from having a difficult time when I was younger.”

Jon qualified in 1997 as a mental health nurse and worked on wards in hospitals caring for adults, young and old. He soon got a chance to move into his current area of expertise where he’s worked for many years.

“I worked on a small detox unit for people with substance misuse problems and it really interested me to care for these people trying to come off substances that were affecting their lives so much.”

Jon’s current role as a Community Psychiatric Nurse sees him visit people in the community who’ve got severe mental health and substance abuse problems.

“I love what I do and it’s all about building trust with these vulnerable people and taking it from there, hopefully having a positive impact on their lives.”

It was nursing that brought Jon and his partner Estelle together in the late 1990s when they met each other whilst training to become nurses. Estelle had to stop her nursing career due to health problems after an operation to remove a benign brain tumour which also resulted in part of her cerebellum being removed too.

“This has meant Estelle is now disabled,” explains Jon “and she’s living with double vision and ataxia, that’s problems with co-ordinating her voluntary movements.”

Estelle is a permanent wheelchair user and until recently had been using a manual wheelchair. To give her greater independence and freedom, Jon and Estelle secured a powered wheelchair which has transformed her life. However, there was a set back.

“We didn’t realise how heavy the chair would be,” explains Jon “and the damage this caused to the flooring throughout our home was extensive. The state of the floor became dangerous and I tried to patch it up best I could but I was worried Estelle would fall through it or tip over and injure herself.”

Jon contacted social services and the NHS to get help and advice but was told that because he worked part time his household contribution prevented them from receiving any funding to help make the floor safe.

“If I wasn’t working at all we could apply for financial help from the government,” says Jon “But I need to work to give me a sense of independence too from being Estelle’s carer the rest of the time. I like nursing, it’s who I am.”

Jon considered options like giving up his career and taking out a loan which he’d struggle to pay back. Whilst thinking what to do they made the decision for Estelle to stop using her powered chair and use the manual chair again, a big step backwards for her independence.

Eventually Jon discovered Cavell and made an application for financial support.

“I found it hard to ask for help,” remembers Jon “Estelle and I have always been so independent, but I thought that this money is to keep Estelle safe and independent, so in the end I was able to complete the application.”

The Cavell Support team was not only able to contribute towards the cost of repairing the floor but also signposted Jon and Estelle to other charities able to help financially as well. This meant the whole repair and reflooring cost was covered in full.

“When we found out we would get the help, we cried a lot!” says Jon “Good crying though, we couldn’t believe it!

“And when we returned after the floor work was completed, we were amazed. You should have seen the smile on Estelle’s face!

“Getting this support has reminded me how proud I am to be a nurse, to be part of a profession that is respected and supported when we need help.”

Estelle is happy to be back in her powered chair and Jon is relieved that she can safely move around the house on her own.

Jon is also glad that there are people and organisations supporting Cavell providing help and advice to the nursing and midwifery family going through tough times.

“I wish I didn’t have to turn to an organisation like Cavell, but it’s brilliant that there is somewhere providing this support for when us nurses need help. Cavell stepped in to help us when others couldn’t. They’ve made a huge difference to our lives.”

If you would like to find out more about the support that Cavell offers, click here to visit the Cavell Support Hub.