Joshua, 16, goes up in the world thanks to Yorkshire company

Joshua Fox was just two years old when he was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease.

The disesae causes inflammation of the digestive system and for the last two years Joshua, now 16, has had to be fed througha tude.

The condition leaves the teenager exhausted with constant aches and pains in his joints.

Every move causes severe pain throughout Joshua’s body and uses a significant amount of energy.

Things got so bad that Joshua, from Doncaster was struggling to get up and down stairs and in the end he was virtually a prisoner is his own bedroom.

Following surgery in 2012 and a 10 month stay in hospital, the pains and limitations to Joshua’s mobility were amplified and his family realised that something needed to change.

The family had been on a waiting list since March 2013 for a house assessment but by November they were still waiting.

But in the space of a week, things changed dramatically for Joshua and his family following a call out from a Yorkshire stairlift manufacturer.

Acorn Stairlifts, based in Steeton, West Yorkshire, launched an initiative in November 2013 to support all three children’s hospices in Yorkshire, including Bluebell Wood, by donating refurbished stairlifts to families in need.

Joshua had been a patient at the Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice in Sheffield and his mother, Rachel, responded to the offer immediately, knowing the difference a stairlift could make to Joshua’s life.

“We’ve been on a waiting list since March for an occupational therapist to assess the house for a stairlift, amongst other support, so to find out about this donation from Acorn Stairlifts was incredible timing. There’s a misconception that stairlifts are just for the elderly, so for Acorn and Bluebell Wood to recognise there are young people and children who are in just as much need is a great step forward,” explains Rachel.

“Joshua hasn’t eaten since June 2012 – he is fed via a TPN feed through his chest and has to carry the machinery and bag up and down the stairs. He was so exhausted during the day that he’d only come down at lunchtime and went back upstairs at 4pm as it was such an effort to climb back up. Joshua lived his life in his bedroom and his opportunity to interact with the rest of the family was severely limited.”

Following Rachel’s plea to Bluebell Wood about the donated stairlift, Acorn contacted her within hours to arrange a fitting, and the stairlift was installed five days later.

“The Acorn team was incredibly quick in fitting and installing the stairlift. To get this turned around within a few days was a godsend for us as it felt like we’d been waiting for something for so long. Acorn gave Joshua thorough training on how to use the stairlift so he is now able to use it without our help.

“The stairlift has given Joshua a sense of independence and control – he’s not limited to four hours downstairs, he can stay with the rest of the family much longer which has been great for all of us. If he needs anything from upstairs such as medication, he doesn’t have to rely on someone else to get it and it’s made carrying his TPN equipment much easier.”

“Seeing the impact it’s had on Joshua’s freedom and the interaction he can now have with the family, we really can’t imagine life without it.”