“If it wasn’t for the care, help and support from the charity Help at Home Costa Blanca I
would be dead now. There is no doubt they saved my life.”
These are the words from Martin, 62, who lives in Quesada. Martin hit rock bottom
after his wife, Denise, died in 2015, and a whole chapter of events afterwards dragged
him further and further towards taking his own life.
Thankfully a friend told Martin of the charity and urged him to get in touch – and bit by
bit his life began to turn a corner. A support team was set up helping Martin through
one crisis after another, and this month Martin went to the monthly meeting of
volunteers from the Quesada branch to personally thank them, and particularly the
three volunteers Steve and Margaret Jones and Tony Popplewell who were his main
carers.
Martin (we’re not giving his surname or address to preserve his identity) and his wife
ran a pub/restaurant in Derby and decided to emigrate to Spain to enjoy an early
retirement.
All was fine for the couple until Denise fell ill with septicemia. She died on New Year’s
Day. But tragedy did not end there. Five months later Martin lost his pet dog, Sandy,
and then his best mate died five months after that and finally his father, who lived in
Canada, died.
If all this wasn’t enough, Martin was involved in a head-on car crash in April, 2016, and
suffered crushed legs. He had to be cut out of the vehicle because the engine has been
pushed back into the cab, and spent six days in hospital with months of recuperation.
Then, in June last year he suffered a stroke and was hospitalised again, this time for
eight days, and although it did not affect mobility, it resulted in his losing much of the
sight in his eyes for a time. In January this year he suffered a fall, breaking his wrist.
While in hospital doctors found he had a thinning of an artery and he would need a
stent. They tried to insert it through his groin, but found another blockage and he has
had another operation to insert the stent through his neck. Luckily Martin’s medical
problems were covered through the health care system.
As well as one medical problem after another and the loss of his wife, pet dog, friend
and father, he also faced a severe financial problem, caused by an insurance company
he thought he was covered by.
When he applied for settlement from the insurance on the life of his wife, the
company kept stalling, claiming that she had an on-going medical condition which
precluded settlement.
Months of legal argument followed but without success. He decided to put his house
on the market so he could pay on-going bills, but then discovered his passport had
expired, which stopped him selling, and he hadn’t the money to pay for a renewal.
This is where Help at Home came to his aid. They were already taking Martin here
there and everywhere – to the hospital, doctors, doing his shopping and sorting out
other day to day things.
But then the charity paid for the passport renewal and postage costs and the charity’s
solicitor put pressure on the insurance company and another solicitor, and finally a
settlement was reached, giving Martin a healthy settlement and financial security –
after three years of anguish.
It meant he no longer needed to sell his house.
Martin said: “There were so many things going wrong, one after the other. Thank
goodness Help at Home were there. They sorted things out and finally I was able to see
light at the end of the tunnel.”
Martin now wants to give something back to society. He said: “I thought I had friends
but when the chips were down some friends didn’t want to know. They all deserted
me.
“Also the gossip and rumours did not help me. After my head-on smash some people
said I tried to commit suicide or I had alcohol in my blood, which were both not true
just malicious gossip.”
He added: “Thank goodness there are people in this world like the ones who give up
their time voluntarily to help others. Without them this world would be a terrible
place.
“I have got my strength and my health back. I need to go to the dentist to sort my
teeth out, but I now want to work for Help at Home so I can give something back and
help people less fortunate than me. Perhaps I could do some painting and decorating,
or some gardening.”
And now Martin has got a new circle of friends – people who he can really call friends.