The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Stroke survivor Debbie makes emergency bid to help charity
Campaign hopes to support body losing £500,000 a month
An inspirational Perthshire mum is fronting an emergency appeal for a national health charity haemorrhaging nearly £500,000 a month during lockdown.
Debbie Matthew’s world was turned upside down when she suffered a stroke at home four years ago.
She was left paralysed down the right side of her body, unable to walk and struggling to speak.
Debbie, from Comrie, spent five days in a high dependency ward and a further six weeks in a stroke rehabilitation unit at Perth Royal Infirmary.
Now the 44-year-old, who said she would be unable to walk today without the specialist care she received, is spearheading a new campaign for Chest, Heart and Stroke Scotland.
The charity said it is losing half-amillion pounds every month after closing down its shops and cancelling fundraising events.
Without an increase in donations, the charity fears it may have to shut some of its essential services within a matter of months, while a question mark hangs over the jobs of its nurses and support teams.
Debbie, alongside heart attack survivor Euan Cameron and Richard Cowan, who is living with lung condition COPD, yesterday made an emotional appeal to save the charity.
In an open letter, the trio wrote: “You were there for us when our lives changed forever – and you continue to give us strength.
“The jobs of lifeline nurses and support workers who are there for us and our families are under threat.”
Debbie added: “I’m a higher risk of coronavirus because of my asthma so I’m not going out at all.
“Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland is a lifeline for me during this outbreak and beyond.”
Darlene Drummond, lead community support co-ordinator at CHSS, said: “It’s desperately sad to imagine a world without our services.
“For many of the people that I support and talk to every day, I am their lifeline to the outside world – without me, there is no one else.”
Chief executive Jane-Claire Judson added: “Right now, more people in Scotland than ever before are in desperate need for our help. We want to make sure we are still here to support them now and in the future.”
To donate to the appeal, visit chss.org. uk/appeal