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An islander with multiple sclerosis, who regularly uses a local oxygen therapy charity to ease his symptoms, is backing a £200,000 campaign to enhance their facilities and support hundreds more islanders.
Mark (43) has been visiting the Oxygen Therapy Centre, based on Rope Walk, twice a week for the past year and says it has helped with his MS, a degenerative disease causing fatigue, mobility problems and pain.
During his sessions, which usually last close to two hours, Mark inhales pure oxygen in a special chamber. Doing so under increased pressure allows extra oxygen to be taken up by the bloodstream and absorbed at a far greater rate.
In Mark’s case, this translates to a delay in the deterioration of nerve cells.
Pictured: Oxygen therapy can be used for a variety of conditions.
Mark says that while the effect of the sessions is not immediate, he has definitely noticed an improvement. "It makes me feel better, it keeps more mobile," he told Express. "I don’t feel much different after the session. It is a gradual, cumulative effect, it’s not an immediate switch. But you breathe in 10 times more oxygen than you can get at sea level and it's good for you."
But he’s just one of hundreds of islanders who stand to benefit from the therapy, which helps with a range of chronic conditions.
Tori Ducker, Development and Operations Manager at the Oxygen Therapy Centre, explained: "It’s a natural anti-inflammatory so for conditions like fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis and things like that, it works to bring down the inflammation that is causing the pain and others problems for people with those conditions, and it gets to do that without the side effects of medications that we otherwise get put on to.”
Pictured: The chamber in its current state.
But the benefits of the centre go well beyond the medical aspects, with clients able to socialise with each other and enjoy pet therapy with the centre’s two resident dogs.
It was for these reasons that Mark welcomed the news of the charity’s intentions to open a new centre next year on Trinity Hill, featuring a new chamber allowing the centre to triple its number of clients in Jersey.
The new oxygen chamber, which would be the only low-pressure oxygen chamber in the Channel Islands, will allow the charity to treat 12 people at a time, while the current capacity is of four. It also comes with a dividing wall providing two rooms instead of one.
Pictured: The dogs of the centre keep an eye on the clients while they are in the chamber.
The charity says that demand for its services has risen dramatically over the past few years as Oxygen Therapy becomes more widely understood and used in treatment, in particular for cancer patients. In 2016, they completed 365 sessions and 491 in 2017. So far this year they have already offered 610 sessions.
The charity currently treats over 40 different conditions, including MS, Fibromyalgia, neurological conditions, cancer and sports injuries, for 72 clients ranging from three weeks old up to 93 years.
However, statistics show that they could be assisting a lot more.
Pictured: The charity says its new chamber will help it triple the number of clients it helps.
250 islanders are living with MS, more than 4,000 with Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue and ME, and 900 with cancer. According to the States of Jersey Disability Strategy, there are almost 14,000 disabled islanders, and a large number of them would be able to benefit from the Oxygen Therapy Centre.
While the charity has secured new premises on Trinity Hill and has been gained funds for the new Oxygen Chamber thanks to donations from the Association of Jersey Charities and the CI Lottery Fund, they are appealing to islanders' generosity to raise a further £200,000 for refurbishment of the centre.
Ms Ducker said: "We are thrilled to announce plans for the new facility that will enable us to reach out and help so many more Islanders. We have seen such amazing results for our clients who suffer from a range of conditions from cancer to sports injuries and the demand for our services has almost doubled in the last two years. We know we have a lot of money to raise for the new facility and we would be so grateful if people would come forward to help us."
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