Club to match fundraising efforts.
Lifelong fan and season ticket holder, Chloe Page, recently got in contact to ask her football family at Priestfield for some help.
Chloe was diagnosed with Vascular Elhers Danlos Syndrome when she was 17 years old; the condition affects everything in the body from connective tissue to internal organs which causes Chloe to have another disease which affects the heart called POTS (Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome). It causes not only massive amounts of daily pain to Chloe, but also affects her everyday life with her daughter, Lillie.
We will be holding a bucket collection at Saturday’s game at home to Luton Town, with which the Chairman Paul Scally has agreed that the club will match pound for pound what is raised on the day by the club’s supporters to help achieve the necessary target.
Mascot Tommy T will be going around before kick-off and at half-time, with a bucket also being left with a face painter in the family enclosure in the Medway Stand. Buckets will also be dotted around inside the stadium (megastore, boardroom and ticket office).
Chloe has always put her pain and suffering to one side to care for Lillie who suffers with Autism, Aspergers and Sensory Processing Disorder, however recently things have taken a difficult turn.
“Unfortunately a few weeks ago I collapsed at work and my legs and back went into spasm. Things didn't improve and I fell down the stairs a few days later which then left me now being unable to use my legs,” said Chloe.
Chloe went for tests in hospital and was given the terrible news that she will not get the use back in her legs.
“This has now completely changed my life,” she added. “The simplest tasks I can no longer do; making myself a drink or running up the stairs because we’ve forgotten something - I cannot get around my house, I can no longer take Lillie to school as I cannot get out.
“I am currently now a prisoner in my own home as I cannot move around by myself and cannot go out by myself.”
Chloe is now trying to sort out a stair lift and ramps for her house, but her main priority is getting an electric wheelchair and getting her independence back.
The cost for the specific electric wheelchair that Chloe needs is £1400. The waiting list on the NHS for this is over two years, which leaves Chloe stuck at home.
“I cannot use a self-propel one as my heart is tachycardic and my shoulders dislocate due to my condition.”
Members of the Gills family have been raising money for a wheelchair but unfortunately it's still not enough. Chloe has been a season ticket holder since she was three years old and received supporter of the year in 2009.
“I have followed the team up and down the country from Carlisle down to Plymouth. Gills are a very big part of my life and it's killing me missing the games, I've missed three so far and I'm going insane.
“Gillingham have helped me through some of my darkest times and it's not just a football club to me; it's my family.”
Chloe is hoping to be at The Medway Priestfield Stadium for the game against Luton Town on Saturday so please dig deep and give what you can when our bucket collectors present themselves.
Can't make the game? You can still support Chloe by donating via her Just Giving page. https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/Chloe-page
