High tech equipment will change Jake’s life

A series of events held at St Andrew’s Church managed to raise the grand total of £3,600 to buy state of the art equipment for 13-year-old Jake Green to help him communicate with family and friends.

Confined to a wheelchair, Jake was born a normal, healthy baby but suffered a series of epileptic fits when he was just five months old. As a result he suffered lack of oxygen to his brain which left him with long term epilepsy and unable to walk, speak or even eat properly so he is fed through his stomach with a tube.

The equipment fund raisers have bought for Jake is called a Tobi Eyegaze which is a computer screen he can use with his eyes to relay messages to his family.

Jake’s stepdad, Andy Green (31) who is an engineer at Rolls Royce in Barnoldswick, said: “Jake can use the computer screen to tell us simple things such as he is hungry or tired. At the moment that is not something he can do like the rest of us.

“The equipment uses retina recognition so he can control it with eye movement. It is an amazing piece of equipment and we are so grateful to everyone who has done so much for us to make this happen.’’

Andy and his wife, Simmone, and their two youngest sons, James (five) and one-year-old Euan, who live in Narvik Avenue, have paid tribute to fellow churchgoers at St Andrew’s for their efforts in raising the cash. Events held included a curry night which brought in £1,150, a fun day and a number of other fundraisers the family have been involved with. And Andy revealed that more fund raising was on the cards in the future to help pay for a new wheelchair for Jake.

As Jake is growing into a young man the family have used their savings to build an extension at their home to accommodate all the equipment he will need in the future.