Done it! The brilliant people of Hartlepool raised the £10,000 needed for this teenager to get life-changing surgery

A teenager will get an operation which will change his life forever – and it is all down to the people of Hartlepool.
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Joshua Readman, 17, faces two hours of surgery on July 14 after the £10,000 needed for the procedure to go ahead was raised by caring members of the public.

Dozens of people backed a Go Fund Me appeal and others held events across Hartlepool to push the total beyond that all-important mark.

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It all means Joshua, who lives in town with his family, can have a metal bar inserted to stop his chest wall caving inward. At the moment, it is pressing against his heart which is only working at 45 per cent capacity.

Joshua Readman and his mum Natasha Johnston.Joshua Readman and his mum Natasha Johnston.
Joshua Readman and his mum Natasha Johnston.

The keyhole-style operation at the James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, will change all that and Joshua was due to check in to hospital on Tuesday with surgery planned on Wednesday.

He will then initially be moved to a high dependency ward and is not expected to come out of hospital until Sunday.

Mum Natasha Johnston, 38, said: “There are not enough words that I can say to thank these people. There is so much that people have done.

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"The organising, the events, the time they have given and the fact that they have done all this in a pandemic when money is tight for many people. It is amazing.

Natasha Johnston with her son Joshua Readman who can have surgery after a successful fundraising appeal.Natasha Johnston with her son Joshua Readman who can have surgery after a successful fundraising appeal.
Natasha Johnston with her son Joshua Readman who can have surgery after a successful fundraising appeal.

"They have changed Joshua’s life. He didn’t have a life. He could not go out with friends or be a normal teenager. Joshua is over the moon that people have done this and he keeps saying ‘mum, there are too many people to thank and I can’t thank them enough’.

"Every single pound is helping to change his life.”

The bar would remain in him for three to five years and would eventually be taken out.

Natasha Johnston whose son Joshua Readman will have surgery tomorrow to stop his chest wall from crushing his heart.Natasha Johnston whose son Joshua Readman will have surgery tomorrow to stop his chest wall from crushing his heart.
Natasha Johnston whose son Joshua Readman will have surgery tomorrow to stop his chest wall from crushing his heart.
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When it is, Joshua’s chest will hopefully have properly formed.

The online Go Fund Me appeal for Joshua said that “this surgery was removed off the NHS funding list in February 2019 because they classed the procedure as cosmetic”.

The full amount for the £10,000 cost had to be paid before the July 14 operation.

But when it goes ahead, it will give Joshua 90 to 95 per cent heart function, said his mum Natasha.

Mum and son waiting for the big day when life-changing surgery will finally happen for Joshua.Mum and son waiting for the big day when life-changing surgery will finally happen for Joshua.
Mum and son waiting for the big day when life-changing surgery will finally happen for Joshua.
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She said: “His heart is being crushed and it must bring him relief to know it won’t be getting crushed.”

As the countdown begins to Joshua’s big moment, Natasha admitted: “I keep saying to him ‘are you alright’ and he is laid back. He is not nervous. He just wants to get it done.”

Any extra money raised will go towards other people potentially facing the same procedure as Joshua.

The caring teenager, who is a student at Hartlepool College of Further Education, has been a volunteer at Poolie Time Exchange (PTE) for 18 months and PTE is backing his fundraising drive.

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Others have helped too. The Sandy car park at Seaton Carew hosted a fundraising event in June and Hartlepool-based Phoenix Kickboxing also gave its support – as well as many people who gave individual donations.

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A scan showing how Joshua's chest wall is pressing on his heart.A scan showing how Joshua's chest wall is pressing on his heart.
A scan showing how Joshua's chest wall is pressing on his heart.

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