Cobh’s Raymond requires urgent surgery abroad

A GoFundMe page has raised more than €10k for a Cork man who suddenly fell ill shortly after moving abroad and now needs urgent surgery.

Raymond Roche’s recent move from Cobh to New Zealand was all going smoothly until a few days ago he felt a severe pain in his abdomen and was immediately hospitalised.

The pain was caused by complications with the 26 year old’s circulatory system affecting blood flow to his leg which in turn has affected his testicles.

“I was on the way home from the gym when I felt an awful dull pain on the left side of my abdomen. I did my best to make it home but then realised by that I needed to get to the hospital,” said Raymond.

He now needs crucial surgery which will cost in the region of €10k and cannot fly home to Ireland in case he has a medical emergency midair.

Raymond said he now faces two “daunting” surgery options but said that anything would be better than his current situation.

“There are two options; they either cut my testicle open to sort out the veins and blood flow that way, or they go through a vein in my neck and travel down to find the damaged veins that way. Pick your poison!” he said.

“On a positive note, this whole process has shown me how amazing people really are and how generous they can be. I will be forever grateful to everyone who has helped,” added Raymond.

A fitness professional, Raymond’s work has been put totally on hold for the time being and, because he is not a resident of New Zealand, he must now find a private surgeon willing to carry out the procedure.

He said “Due to the medication, I’m feeling a lot better since I’m completely numb, but my entire lifestyle and profession is in the fitness industry. I’ve been told that I can’t do anything that will have an impact on my core, including coughing and sneezing, so not being able to be active is taking a bit of a toll.”

All going well, if a consultation this week goes to plan, Raymond hopes his procedure will be done in a couple of weeks, followed by plenty of rest.

Meanwhile, he said his friends and family back home are “all pretty stressed and worried”.

“They wanted me to fly back home, but the doctor did not advise it.”

“My sisters came up with the fundraising ideas to help with some of the stress of the potential financial burden the procedure was going to cause. I was fortunate to receive so many donations and words of support through the fundraisers.

“It’ll take some time, but I’ll soon be sitting down with a cup of tea and thanking everyone!” he added.

With Raymond's potential medical costs still uncertain, any donation is appreciated. His GoFundMe campaign can be found under 'Please donate to help cover Raymond's unexpected surgery' on gofundme.com.