Islanders' fundraising buys advanced equipment for paralysed surfer

Tuesday 02 May 2017

Friends and family of a young surfer and musician who was left completely paralysed after a tragic driving accident have thanked the public, “...from the bottom of their tie-dyed hearts,” after their donations helped to fund state-of-the-art rehabilitation equipment.

Olly Newman (22) was left unresponsive after an uninsured driver slammed into his car at over 70mph as he pulled out of Le Port car park near the Five Mile Road – one of his favourite spots – in 2014.

The accident saw the young musician lose all use of his limbs and torso, with fears over whether he would be able to walk and talk again.

But Olly’s upbeat attitude sparked a community-wide outpouring of ‘Peas & Glove’ – Olly’s unique take on ‘peace and love’ and the name of a charity set up for him – culminating in a colourful set of fundraising initiatives centred on music, surfing, skating, and plenty of tie-dye.

Starting life as a small-scale fundraising project by four of Olly’s close friends, ‘Peas & Glove’ quickly recruited a band of dozens of volunteers, who have successfully held stalls at a number of local festivals and thrown two activity extravaganzas at St Ouen’s Bay.

(Source: Dominic Hirani/YouTube)

“It all started off as we wanted to do a little gig. There’s so much musical talent in our group, so we wanted to do a little gig at the Splash, which is our local, but then every person had another idea, and it just got bigger and bigger,” Matt Daly, Olly’s friend of nearly 10 years and key organiser, told Express.

“It’s got bigger than we ever imagined, to be honest. We didn’t expect any of this. Then we’re getting asked to be at all the other events that are going on like Reasons and Groove de Lecq and Jersey Live to come and do stalls at their places. Eventually, it’s just become so well-known.”

Those efforts have since raised tens of thousands for specialist therapy and equipment for Olly, who currently resides at Queen Elizabeth Foundation (QEF) Rehabilitation Centre, which have helped him to “turn a huge corner in his progress."

He’s now been kitted out with a brand new powered wheelchair, which has seen him regain independence, and even take a recent trip to Brighton Aquarium with 16 friends.

“The difference his chair makes is obvious. Olly is really present in the room and engaging with what is happening around him. Because his position is so much better we also hope it will help him to feel stronger and move more easily," one of his nurses observed.

A Peas & Glove-funded cranio-osteopath is also helping with Olly’s mobility, while advanced ‘eye gaze’ technology, which allows him to use his retinas to move an on-screen cursor, could soon see him communicate with words for the first time in years.

“The neighbour next to him [in QEF], Stevie, he’s got one, and now he can send emails with his eye by just looking at letters for long enough… So that’s how that’s going to benefit Olly.

“Because he can’t talk or move, his eyes are his communication, so he looks left for yes, right for no. But you have to ask the right questions and answer the right answers for him so with this, hopefully when he gets used to it, he can start sharing his emotions. It’s going to be quite a big step for him,” Mr Daly explained.

But while Olly is making progress, the fundraising team are not slowing in their efforts. They’re set to celebrate their third annual ‘Permanent Ollyday’ event – a play on Olly’s favourite song, ‘Permanent Holiday’ – after nearly five months’ planning next Saturday 13 May at the Watersplash to ensure he stays on track for a bright future.

Previous years’ events have attracted over 2,000 attendees. With two music stages, a pop-up skate park and a varied line-up of activities ranging from digger rides to forging, tie-dye and raffles, they could be set to welcome even more.

“I think [Peas & Glove] touches a lot of people. The older lot have been through their fair share of stuff so to see stuff like this going on, I think it impresses them and it’s great for their kids to see. Hopefully when their kids grow up, they can have a great circle of friends. It just shows you can help each other out… We just want him home,” Mr Daly said.

He praised the public for their “overwhelming” support, which has funded equipment and therapy for Olly that would have never otherwise been possible: “We’d like to thank the public as well; we really do appreciate everything they’ve done with their donations from the bottom of our tie-dyed hearts.”