Hello!

Raising Awareness Campaign Updates FAQs Ways to Help

Thanks so much for visiting my website! I cannot talk or communicate, so my dad made this website for me, to tell my story.

To donate, go straight to my GoFundMe page or use the widget below.

Love, Mo

Media appearances

I’ve been in the media a bit - find out more below!

National and Local News

Sunday Times (paywall)
Chester Standard
Cheshire Live

National and Local Radio

Premier Radio
Premier Radio interview page
Dee 106.3 Radio
UBC Radio

About Me

Hello!

My identical twin James and I were born in 2004, 10 weeks early. We are survivors of twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome. Because of this condition, I am profoundly disabled , quadriplegic with severe spastic cerebral palsy, epilepsy and profound learning difficulties. We live with our Mum & Dad in Chester in the UK.

me and my brother

Highs and Lows

Like many people, I have a mixed life. I smile a lot and I love cuddles . But sometimes life is very difficult. My body is in constant tension because of the severity of my condition. And I have seizures most days. It hurts a lot, but my Mum and Dad tell me I’m very brave.

I love being with my friends and family - especially my brother James. He has severe learning difficulties and is on the autistic spectrum. He makes me laugh. Like a lot of identical twins, we have a very special bond.

A new home

Raising Awareness Campaign Updates FAQs Ways to Help

I live with my family in a lovely home in Chester, England. As I’ve grown older, and needed more and more help, the house has become too small for me. Soon I will need two carers with me, round the clock. I need more space for my supplies, my equipment and my carers. And it’s important to keep my family together.

Why a new home?

It’s important for me to be near my parents and especially my brother (what can I say - he needs me!). They know me best and what I need. So I have to have my family around me. But I also need my carers.

And I’ve never been able to have friends round to my house. There just isn’t enough room for all the wheelchairs! It would be amazing to have space for them to visit and perhaps watch a film or enjoy some music therapy together.

a ceiling track hoist

Home is the best place for me where I have everything I need. It’s like having a hospital in my home. And for a hospital, you need a lot of space. Space for my two wheelchairs  , all my supplies, my special bed  and bath , my hoists - everything.

The bath has always been one of my happiest places. I have a very special bath, which goes up and down for my carers. It cost £11,000 (!) and has a spa function which I love. Fortunately the bath can move with me, though there will be a relocation fee.

specialist height adjustable bath

Privacy

Though we all want to live together, it can be difficult for the rest of my family, when there are carers in the home all day and all night. It makes it hard to have a private family life. Sometimes I’m noisy at night and wake everyone up. My mum is basically a superhero . But even superheroes need to sleep.

The challenge

Being disabled is expensive. Being profoundly disabled is really expensive. (Remember my £11,000 bath?)

I have a big problem . Any house I move to needs to be adapted for me. That can include:

  • Widening doorways for my wheelchair 
  • Adding ceiling track hoists
  • Creating ramped and level access
  • Installing my specialised bath 

building work

Mum and Dad can’t adapt a house while I’m living there. They can’t afford to buy another house without selling the existing one. There aren’t many places suitable for me to move to while work is underway and my brother really doesn’t like to be away from me (seriously - he suffers from anxiety and is on the autistic spectrum). Staying together is always the best option.

On top of that, moving house once is going to be hard enough (especially since James struggles with change), but moving twice - once into temporary accommodation and again into the finished house - is almost unthinkable. The best option by far is to make the new house ready while I’m still living in the old house with my family. Then we move just once.

building work

How this can happen is my Great Big Problem and it’s the reason this website exists.

What do I need?

I need a home:

  • Where my family can stay together
  • In Chester, because it needs to be near:
    • my school  - my body makes it difficult to go long distances - sometimes I need a sedative to be able to travel - serious stuff
    • My hospital
    • In particular, my GP & pharmacy; they know me well and are good at handling all my many (20+!) prescriptions
  • With a bedroom and bathroom downstairs for me
  • With space for my carers
  • With space for my all supplies and equipment
  • With space for my own washing machine (I won’t explain why!)
  • Where my family can have privacy

I don’t know how many houses meet all these requirements. They seem to cost at least £500,000 (a lot more than my current home). And adaptations for me and James could cost £100,000 or even more. This means spending ~£300,000 more than my current house is worth. Somehow I need to raise that much.

Do you have questions? The FAQs might help.

Options

Raising Awareness Campaign Updates FAQs Ways to Help

We’re all scratching our heads how to do this! Bridging finance (borrowing the cost of the new house) might be one way to allow my parents to buy the new house before the sale completed on the currrent house. This would mean my adaptations could be completed before I move in.

Bridging finance is not cheap. Neither are the many things I will need done to do to the new house (many of which were done for my current home). Disabled Facilities Grant are normally an option, but it’s only possible to apply for a grant once you have a house to move into. The grant process moves too slowly compared to the house moving process, so it’s unlikely the timescales will line up. We will however still pursue this option, in the hope it will cover some of the costs.

You’ll remember that but for my additional needs, my family would not be moving. Here is an example of some possible costs in finding me a suitable new home:

ItemEstimated cost
Adaptations for James£5,000
Wheelchair accessible paths£7,500
Doorway widening£7,500
Wheelchair accessible garden room£7,500
Facilitate parking for care staff£7,500
Ramped access£10,000
Wet room£15,000
Private element of building works£15,000
Ceiling track hoists£25,000
Total£100,000

Most houses aren’t already adapted, and the costs for adaptations are all a lot more than I have in my piggy bank! Any amount I can raise widens our options.

Help

Click here for lots of ideas how you can help!

To do any of this, I’m going to need help. Help from our family, friends and strangers. There’s no getting round it: the things I most need, to find this new home and keep my family together, are love and money. (Not love of money though!)

What you can do to help

I would love it if you could:

  • Get the word out by sending a to your followers.
  • Send a donation of any amount via my GoFundMe page.
  • Contribute artwork, graphic design or web skills, to make this site more beautiful. My dad’s a geek, not an artist, bless him.
  • If you have connections with charities or media outlets, tell them my story - perhaps they can help or spread the word?
  • Tell your friends, family and colleagues about me!
Pledges

Some people have pledged their support in other, innovative ways. Read more about these on the pledges page. They’re inspirational!

Contact details are below.

Click here for lots of ideas how you can help!

Twins

Here’s a bit more about me and my twin James.

scans

Morgan

  • Nickname: Mo
  • Likes: cuddles, good music, being talked to, hot baths
  • Dislikes: sudden noises, being in pain, bumpy journeys on the school bus
  • Main challenges: severe spastic cerebral palsy, epilepsy, no speech, vision impairment, profound and multiple learning difficulties and more
  • Superpower: being gorgeous

James

  • Nickname: Jamesy
  • Likes: car numberplates, jigsaws
  • Dislikes: changes of plan
  • Main challenges: autistic spectrum disorder, anxiety, severe learning difficulties, epilepsy
  • Superpower: knowing everyone’s car
Raising Awareness Campaign Updates FAQs Ways to Help