A wife has launched a fund-raiser so that she can bring her husband home after a devastating accident.
Retired aircraft engineer Alan Hargreaves, 71, has been left paralysed from the neck down.
He’s been in hospital ever since an accident at Noble’s Hospital in April last year.
Stock car racing fan Alan had gone into hospital for a routine hip replacement operation. He was recovering from the successful surgery when he went to the bathroom, slipped, and broke his neck.
He has not been able to return home since.
His wife Julie has launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise £4,500 towards buying a specialist bed so that her husband can rehabilitate at their home in Ballasalla.
She said: ‘Alan is now paralysed from the neck down and remains in hospital. He’s ready to be discharged as there is nothing else, they can do for him.
‘He is in a specialist bed at the moment which turns him every two hours to help with pressure sores. We asked if he came home could we use it, but we were told that we would have to buy one. It costs £10,000 and we can’t afford to pay that much.’
A specialist bed would allow Alan to begin rehabilitation but also significantly improve his quality of life. Being back in familiar surroundings with Julie would mean the world to him and his loved ones.
‘Alan doesn’t want to go into a nursing home - he wants to come home,’ said Julie. ‘The bed will enable him to come home for the first time since the accident in April 2024.
‘It means everything to him to be able to come home and start rehabilitation - as well as watching stock cars.’
Julie said her husband had been fit and healthy before having problems with his hip. ‘He was in a lot of pain with his hip for quite a long time,’ she said.
She said he had gone in for what should have been a routine operation, and the hip replacement surgery had gone well.
But five hours later he had gone to use the bathroom where he slipped and broke his neck.
Julie said: ‘He wet the floor, stood up and slipped. He’s 6ft tall and was lying across the floor with his head up the wall.’
She said that when staff tried to move him, he blacked out. His family say he was not put in a neck brace after his fall.
Following the accident, Alan was transferred to the spinal unit at Walton.
He was there for five weeks then came back to Noble’s. He was in the intensive care unit for three weeks before being transferred onto a ward - and has been there ever since.
The couple are from Nelson in east Lancashire and moved to the Isle of Man in 2009.
The GoFundMe campaign was launched on Tuesday January 20 and has already raised £2,585 towards the £4,500 goal. You can find details here: