Store is raising cash for Kerry

Staff at The People In Need (PIN) shop, Shaw have organised a fundraiser at Queen Street Conservative Club for Kerry O'Grady, who has type 1 diabetes. Pic shows Kerry (left) with shop owner Marie Hynes.

THE community of Shaw is rallying around a 29-year-old woman who is in urgent need of aids to make her life easier after complications from diabetes left her in constant pain and without her sight.

Kerry O'Grady was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was just 11 years old and has spend years battling the painful and debilitating conditions.

Kerry, from Royton, experiences intense stabbing pains in her hands, arms, abdomen, legs and feet every few minutes due to neuropathy, a condition caused by diabetes when nerve fibres are damaged because the small blood vessels which supply them do not receive essential nutrients.

For the past year, Kerry has also been registered blind after developing diabetic retinopathy which has significantly damaged her retinas. She also has troubles with her bowels.

She said: "As I've got older the complications have increased and they've become more difficult to deal with.

"I often scream out in pain and shake when I get sudden pains.

"It is so horrible to experience, as if I'm been stabbed with a hot, sharp needle, and I can get the pain every ten minutes.

"My sight is often so bad that all I can see is blackness.

"It means I can't read my medication instructions or food labels to monitor my sugar intake, making everything even worse.

"I can't have a normal life as it affects me every day. I can fall or drop things and it means I struggle to sleep."

Kerry was even forced to move into a bungalow to reduce the risk of falling down the stairs and gave up work at Specsavers when her conditions left her exhausted.

She continued: "I just want to live a normal life and not be embarrassed about needing to use a white stick when I'm out walking.

"I started researching the different items available to help me and some of them could completely change my life and improve my health.

"Items such as talking kitchen equipment or label readers would make such a difference.

Grateful

"But I had no idea how I could ever afford them."

Luckily Marie Hynes and the People in Need (PIN) Shop on Market Street heard Kerry's troubles and were eager to do their bit.

The second-hand and vintage shop, which launched last year, has the unique model in that all its profits go back into initiatives which help the local community.

Kerry said: "When my mum told me Marie and the PIN Shop wanted to help I was amazed.

"I never wanted to be a burden to anyone but I'm so grateful that they want to do something to help me raise the money I need."

Marie and the shop have organised a fundraiser in aid of Kerry on October 8 at Queen Street Conservative Club.

The event will feature games, raffles, a DJ and a singer alongside a potato pie supper and hot dogs.

Marie said: "My shop isn't about begging or asking for money, it's about trying to get a community to work together in circumstances such as this.

"We are in our first year and have already helped many people and given to the homeless, shoebox causes and elderly.

"The shop is fast becoming known as a friendly place to pop in and chat too. Kerry will be the first of many I hope to help as the seeing aids will make an incredible difference to her life."

She added that the shop is also looking for raffle prize donations to be dropped off to use for the forthcoming event.

Entrance to the fundraiser costs £5 for adults and £2.50 on the door.

For more information visit the shop or search PIN Shop Shaw on Facebook.