Jack has had a good positive few days and a major update to inform you all is that Jack’s operation that happened three weeks ago has been a success and he’s back to his normal bed .
Tonight many of you will be watching the Millies, an amazing tribute to our Armed Forces I am sure you will agree. We can never forget the sacrifice many of our boys and girls have made for our Country and the danger they constantly put themselves in to make it a better place for everyone.
We would like to thank Stephen Rosie and the Orderly Room for sending Jack a tshirt from the Royal Australian Regiment, it was amazing. It really touched Jack that so many people are following his journey and he joked “I’ve gone global.” .
A while ago I mentioned a lovely lady called Tracy Mounsey who sends parcels to our Heroes as part of Support our Soldiers. She sent me two Christmas parcels recently, one for Jacko and one for our Ghurkha Hero and today we went and gave the parcel to him. He was so moved by it and so was his family so thank you Tracy .
Many of you might have seen that today Jack wrote on the wall saying his thank you to people and it was so touching to read. Jack receives letters from people that have come to meet him and so humbled by our Hero, one arrived yesterday from a senior figure.
I have added a few pictures of Jack’s room to show you all our ever growing Christmas grotto. We promised Jack we are going to get a blow up Santa and put him on the toilet and make it Santa’s grotto . This Christmas will be different but it’s about spending time with your loved ones and we will make it special at the Hospital……but don’t worry everyone…Santa does deliver to the wards….phew.. as Rudolph will be landing on the helicopter landing pad on the roof opposite .
Please can I ask you all to pray for Jack and our Heroes at the Hospital.
To all of you Leeds fans who have written on here, thank you for the support, I really can't wait to get up to Elland road and cheer on the mighty Leeds! We truly are Marching on Together!
Twiggster wrote:Message from the lad himself on F/B:
To all of you Leeds fans who have written on here, thank you for the support, I really can't wait to get up to Elland road and cheer on the mighty Leeds! We truly are Marching on Together!
Finally a new update from Annie! Seems it has been difficult getting in to visit Jack...
As always I would like to thank everyone for your constant support and prayers.
Jack has had a good couple of days and today for the first time we got him out the Ward and went to the coffee shop….was a very special moment .
Like so many places all over the Country we have had lots and lots of snow which has meant it has been testing trying to get into the Hospital. The Military transport has been excellent and managed to get us in except one evening as it was too dangerous.
Tonight we had some lovely carol singers who came to the Ward. One of the singers partner is in the Army and she really wanted to do this for our Heroes. They went to each room and it was quite moving and I know Jack really enjoyed it.
Wherever you are please all drive and walk carefully and keep safe .
Please can I ask you all to pray for Jack and our Heroes at the Hospital.
Good night.
Love Annie xxx
I'm happy to have some news again...was getting worried.
Many of you might have seen on the news today that Prince Charles and David Cameron visited the Hospital to see our Heroes. When we arrived at the Hospital for visiting this afternoon Jack had already met David Cameron who he had already seen before in Afghanistan. Jack said they had a good chat and he was very interested in what he had to say. We hadn’t been there long when HRH came in to Jack’s room. He was extremely pleasant and again was interested in what Jack had to say. To all you Didcot people………we are famous……Prince Charles said when he is in his private helicopter he always knows where he is when he sees the “famous” power station . Both of them brought gifts with them……but not the famous whiskey from Highgrove…….although mum gave Prince Charles a few hints for it haha . Prince Charles had a cake made for the Ward of Highgrove which was incredible, I have added a picture.
We would like to thank all the students of Freman College and especially George Saggers who sent me a giant Christmas card for Jack, signed by the teachers and students. It was really special and very touching. Thank you .
As its Wednesday night it means one thing……..Kath the cake lady or should we say Mother Christmas with a special helper with Frosty the Snowman . Wow can this lady be even more amazing than we all thought but tonight she outshone. Before she went round with the cakes she came round with sack full of gifts for our Heroes. She then made another round with her overladen trolley with cakes and Christmas fare. Father Michael appeared at this stage….surprise surprise…..for his cakes. I have added some pictures .
A lot of the boys have gone home for Christmas but there still is a fair few who will be spending it at the Hospital. We have started to bring our bits and bobs for Christmas day but we still have so much to get into his room .
Please can I ask you all to pray for Jack and our Heroes at the Hospital.
A very LONG message from Jack's Mum this time! Please read it through..the last 2 paragraphs are brilliant!:
Well tonight it’s Mary here doing the update and in my lovely daughters words we would like to thank everyone for your constant support and prayers.
I wanted to write this as it has been a few months since I last wrote, since the first few days when Jack was fighting for his life in Critical Care. My darling Annie is next door (through the wardrobe) wrapping Christmas presents and trying to bring normality into this Christmas.
Today Sarah and her Dad Mick managed to get up to see Jack which made him very happy. Thank you both for coming. Luckily the roads are a bit better. Jack and Sarah had their sausage and chips together in Jack’s room and one of the famous crème doughnuts (sorry I cannot remember their name). I first came across them via my very good friend Jayne Chinnock when we went to the Harrods Sale in London and I bought a dozen home - cost a fortune but a friend of our’s husband ate the “bloody lot” ha ha.
Jack was a bit down this afternoon but cheered up this evening although very tired. We shall be spending Christmas Day at the hospital although there might be an opportunity for Jack to come out for a short period for a drink. Fingers crossed.
We shall get up early in the morning and try to get to the supermarket to buy the Christmas Dinner. As the food in the hospital isn’t very good – we tend to bring in the majority of his food. We have already bought the mince pies and chocolate log which we have already left in Jack’s room. We shall cook the turkey and gammon to supplement the meal we hope Jack will get. We have already got the smoked salmon. We shall try to make it the best Christmas Day we can – our transport will pick us up at 10a.m. and shall stay until 9 p.m.
As Annie wrote last night yesterday was a day of visitors finishing off with Mother Christmas and Frosty the Snowman – they looked magnificent. If there is anyone out there who feels they want to fundraise please remember “Kath the cake lady” – she is absolutely magnificent. She now goes to Headley Court once a month and the boys who remember her from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital are so excited to see her. Thank you Kath for being there and to your wonderful work. Thank you to Phil (Kath’s brother ) for his wonderful artwork – truly amazing. Please remember her in the Honours List – if not this year then next year.
Next I would like to apologize to all those members of my family, friends and colleagues that I haven’t spoken to since the incident. I’m sorry I passed this to Andy and Annie – in fact we call Annie – our Communications Officer and I accept that her wonderful “updates” on Facebook says more than I say on a telephone.
As Christmas approaches I would like to thank and to wish the following who we have met during the last few months a very Merry Christmas
1. Every member of the Afghan medical team who managed to get Jack back to the U.K.
2. Every member of the Critical Care Team -who fought against the odds to keep Jack alive
3. Staff on Ward 412 including Vicky and Gina the physio team still looking after Jack
4. Father Michael for his support, compassion and friendship – I say friendship as I feel he is now become such a true friend (one where you can take the mickey out of which we do ha ha)
5. S.A.F.F.A - for giving us the opportunity to stay near to the hospital so we can be near Jack.
6. D.M.W.S. – each and every one of you – Glynn especially.
7. The M.L.O’s including the drivers who take us to the hospital daily on the minibus.
8. All the families we have met – who I know will be friends forever.
9. To Julie Deady, Dan and everyone in the family, thank you, our paths will cross again one day and this Christmas our thoughts and love will be with you. God bless.
10. To our good friend Julie- who has become a good friend to us from Critical Care (and Julie’s mum)
11. My sister Pam and brother in law Geoff – thank you for everything
12. To my brother in law Barry, sister in law Sue and nephew Barry Lee for making the journey so many times from Dubai – an immense thank you. How many bratties have you got left Sue. Thank you for your kind invitation to come to Dubai – I must admit it sounds very tempting.
13. Donna and Guy Carter – again a thousand thanks.
14. Our lovely Julia “Titchmarsh” – holding the fort for us – again Julia thank you.
15. Jayne and John Chinnock – thank you for the wonderful letters and parcels for Jack.
16. 33 Engineer Regiment/101 Engineer Regiment.
17. Colonel Phil – a million thanks.
18. John Rigby – our Visiting Officer- a million thanks John.
19. Ivan “the terrible”
20. Tom Curly – thank you Tom – good luck with the ward. Jack is very proud of you. Wish you were here nursing!
21. To all members of Jack’s Search Team – without you and you’re response Jack would not be here today.
22. To my husband Andy – I’m so very sorry – I still question and ask why us but have no words to answer that.
23. To my wonderful, stunning daughter Annie –I have no words to thank her – if there is any employer out there who wants the best look no further than Annie Kimber Cummings. She has been my rock, my support and my strength. God bless you Annie and thank you.
24. To Jack Andrew James Cummings – my son –no one can be prouder of you than me- you are a true hero, you have fought my darling against all the odds – everyone loves you on the ward – you never complain and have a kind word for everyone. I am so proud of you. Thank you.
25. And lastly to each and every member on Jack’s page - I thank you from the bottom of my heart knowing that each and every one are praying for Jack and willing him on. I do thank the Leeds fans but as a Fulham Supporter myself - well what can I say – no don’t boo me please………………………………………………….
A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU AND A VERY HAPPY PEACEFUL AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR
As always I would like to thank everyone for your constant support and prayers and more importantly to wish everyone a very happy new year.
Christmas of course was very different this year but still was a very special time for us all. Father Michael held a service on Christmas Eve which Jack was able to attend and it was a really lovely. A few of the Heroes managed to attend the service and was great to see all of them all together in high spirits. Christmas Day started early as dad went to put the turkey on at 6am and set the fire alarms off at 6.30 so all the house got up hehe. As it was open ward we managed to get in about 10am and Jack had already had the ‘gun fire’ drink (tea and rum) from the Military which I believe is very traditional. To get into the spirit of things I dressed up as an elf to give Jack his presents which made him laugh . The Christmas lunch was what you would expect from a Hospital so it was lucky that dad brought in our own version for Jack to have. After lunch Jack finally made the great escape and we went to the pub for a Christmas drink. On the way back from the pub the Military driver took us back on a route to show Jack the famous Selly oak landmarks that we have seen in five months……the fish and chip shop, supermarket and charity shop . In total we were gone about half hour but it was great for Jacko to just get out but very tiring for him. When we got back we played games and opened presents. In traditional Christmas Day evening style everyone fell asleep except me so I was left watching the ‘great’ programs on TV . We left Jack late evening and we eventually had our Christmas dinner about 10pm. The next few days involved lots of eating and playing games. Mum and dad took Jack in bucks fizz on New Year’s Eve which I know went down well.
One of Jack’s presents from Santa was the Rock Band 3 game and the instruments so a couple of times Jack has been able to go to the common room and we’ve ‘Rocked out’. We need to get a microphone so mum can be our lead singer but then again not as she’s tone deaf hehe.
Jack has been in good spirits the last week but I think being in Hospital for such a long time is making him feel bit down and bored. We should know more about Jack’s next operation tomorrow.
Scandal at The Queen Elizabeth……someone has taken Kath the cake lady’s trolley but we are putting our detective heads on and going to find the culprits.
One of our Ghurkha Heroes leaves tomorrow for Headley and we are so happy for him and his family.
Please can I ask you all to keep praying for Jack and our Heroes at the Hospital.
Good night.
Love Annie xx
Happy our LUFC fan HERO had as good a Xmas as possible! :thup:
As always I would like to thank everyone for your constant and prayers. The support you all have given my family has been truly amazing and I thank you all.
Today Jack had what we hope will be his last major operation for a while. When he came back this afternoon he was very sleepy and in pain but hopefully tomorrow he will feel better.
We cannot believe it is January and we are still here. When Jacko got injured we all said we would stay with him till he left for Headley Court, for some families that wasn’t best for them but we decided we couldn’t be anywhere else until he moved on. It is nearly 5 months but everyday Jack gets stronger .
Please can I ask you all to pray for Jack and our Heroes at the Hospital.
Good night.
Love Annie xx
I think this thread has run its course now, so I'll not bother posting further updates. Anyone on here who actually CARES, knows how to follow Jack's progress.
For anyone who actually cares....a WONDERFUL update from Annie! :jump:
THE UPDATE WE HAVE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!!!
Good evening friends,
As always I would like to thank everyone for your constant support and prayers, all your support you have given us during this difficult time really does mean so much to us.
Tonight I have the amazing news we have all been praying and hoping for……..Jack our amazing Hero will be going to Headley Court on Tuesday . This news we never thought would come and we didn’t want to say before as one date was already given and postponed due to complications. Words can’t express the joy we are currently feeling. On the 14th August around 2pm we received the dreaded knock at the door and our world came to an end. The 51 days in Critical Care were the hardest days of our lives, not knowing whether Jack would survive. From looking at a piece of paper of all his injuries it wasn’t looking good but the inner strength conquered and he pulled through and amazed the medical staff.
The next journey of rehabilitation will be a long hard road. Jack is a unique case so he will set the boundaries and who knows what he can achieve. But knowing our Jack I know he will put in 200% and strive to get back his independence. I ask all of you to pray for his inner strength to get him through this next very challenging hurdle.
We are still in shock that he is going and Ade one of the Nurses said he is going to put up a blue plaque that this will always be known as Jack Cummings room .
It will be 170 days at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital when we leave on Tuesday for Headley Court. As a lot of you know we have stayed with Jack every day and have been here in Birmingham since August. In these 5 months we have seen so much heartache and sadness that will stay with us forever and currently the Ward is very busy with our Heroes and more in Critical Care which breaks our hearts.
Although today has been a day full of joy and hope, I have the bad news to say that our Ghurkha Hero has gone back to Critical Care. We are constantly thinking and praying for his wonderful parents and hope he comes back to the Ward soon.
I know I am a bit biased as he is my baby brother (by a year ) but Jack is a true Hero and words can never express how proud I am and how I am constantly amazed at his courage, determination and inner strength.
The shock has not really sunk in so hopefully I can write more tomorrow . I have added a few pictures of Jack from the past month including his one and only beer
Since my last update about the “weighing chair” guess what……..the repair men were on the Ward fixing the chair outside Jack’s room….I think it might have been dad that broke it hehe.
Please can I ask you all to pray for Jack and our Heroes at the Hospital.
Good night.
Love Annie xxx
What this means, is that Jack is out of hospital and into a convalescent home! Which has made me and several other MOT posters weep for joy this evening, since Annie posted this news. I never doubted Jack would come this far, despite his horrendous injuries. He a LEEDS FAN, after all!
I was posting your comments from this thread to Annie to give to Jack, but they dried up some time ago, I am sorry to say, so I stopped posting updates..
But THIS news was something I had to share! ON ON ON, our Jack! A TRUE LEEDS HERO!
International English and maths study programmes for children of all ages and abilities. Give us a shout if you think your child could benefit. www.facebook.com/KumonWakefieldNorth
Well everyone we are in Surrey and Jack made that big step and is currently in his room with two other Heroes preparing for his first day of hard work starting very early tomorrow .
Wow what an emotional and happy day . When we asked whether one of us could travel down with Jack in the ambulance we were told no and told we couldn’t visit Jack before he left as he would be too busy so we just waited for the call from him to say he was on the move. Jack rang us about 9.30 to say it was all systems go so we said our emotional farewell to Patrick and Norton House which has been our home for the past 5 months. What I’m about to tell you we couldn’t of planned and ask all 2669 of you to keep it a big secret hehe. I kept saying to Dad I wanted to go back to the Hospital just for peace of mind that the ambulance had gone and basically to close that chapter and after many times of asking he agreed. As we were driving up to the Hospital we spotted someone on a stretcher with this blonde head bobbing away…….it was Jack!!!! Dad did an emergency stop and out I got and I am going to admit I was shouting “Jack Jack” like a mad woman, running across the road and into the drop off area…..how embarrassing for Jacko . I couldn’t believe we saw him. Mum and Dad came across and we helped get everything sorted and then suddenly the wonderful trained Nurse went “does one of you want to come with us in the ambulance?”…..result . So off Mum went with Jack in the ambulance.
On Sunday 15th August we were there waiting for him to arrive in the ambulance and on Tuesday 1st February we waited for him to go……a perfect end to that chapter.
It was very hard and emotional to say goodbye to Jack this evening however I can’t tell you how proud I was of him.
Please can I ask you all to pray for Jack to give him that strength to keep on fighting and to all our Heroes wherever they may be.
Good night.
Love Annie xx
If Carlsberg made sisters, Annie would be the role model!
Though very few of you MOT lot seem to care about him, with your lack of posts on this thread - I am posting this for those who DO care.
From Jack on Facebook 15 mins ago:
On the 14th of August 2010 i was caught in an IED explosion in Afghanistan where i lost both of my legs, today i started to walk again..... want to thank everyone again for their support!!
I am literally crying at this wonderful news, as I post this. The absolute grit and determination shown by this lad has overwhelmed me, over the past 6 months...
He was on the danger list, fought back to critical - then to hospital patient and now into rehab and...WALKING!
I've been in regular contact with him and his family privately for a few months and shared their fears and now at last, I'm sharing their joy! :jump:
Jack's next goal is to get to the Forest game - doctors permitting.
Well - just thought I'd let you know - if only our players had the utter GUTS that this lad has, we'd have been promoted by now.
Latest news from Annie:
.
:jump: 
