Motor neurone disease victim claims he's been failed by RAF

The former air traffic controller, of Strensall, who is fully dependent on a ventilator, cannot speak and can only move his eyes, has used a Windows-based tablet and an eye tracking device to tell his story to The Press.

He revealed how he was treated so badly by the RAF before and after being discharged on medical grounds in 2021 that a complaint of maladministration was upheld in full.

However, he said he was only offered a ‘paltry’ £12,500 in compensation, after having been given guidance that the figure should have been £145,000 to help meet the cost of care and his wife's loss of earnings, when she had had to act as one of his carers, and for the 'irreparable mental cruelty' suffered by him and his family. He said he did not accept the compensation.

David said he had had no support, communication or care assistance from the RAF since he was discharged and had become more and more reliant on his family to feed, bathe, transfer and transport him in a home which still hasn't been properly adapted.

"My family were struggling to transfer me from bed to wheelchair to stair lift to wheelchair to lounge chair, then to the kitchen and toilet," he said.

"I was becoming a dead weight as I could not support myself. I couldn’t be bathed or showered and the only way to wash me was for my children to hold me up on the kitchen sink with my legs in a paddling pool whilst my wife Shelley washed and dried me.

"I have been disadvantaged both financially and emotionally. The wellbeing and mental health of myself and my family have been irreparably damaged. My medical care has been severely compromised as a result of insufficient/inadequate implementation of care.

"Shelley has had so much to deal with, especially since I was discharged from hospital. So much stress and pressure from ensuring that I get the proper care and the last thing that she needed was battles with the MOD to try and ensure that the adaptations were adequate.

"We are in a much better place now. No thanks to the RAF who have admitted that they caused so much misery to one who has given a lifetime of meritorious service. They failed my family and I and then insult us with their paltry offer of compensation. Shame on the RAF!"

He said he didn't want anyone else to go through what he and his family had had to endure, and wanted to see evidence that the redress directed following his service complaint had been implemented.

He would also like the RAF to revisit the process of determining the compensation he was offered without being bound rigidly by the government's Ombudsman’s Guide.

His pleas have met with support from a York councillor and a York MP.

An RAF spokesperson said: "We are aware of Mr Rhodes’ case, but are unable to comment on individual cases. The RAF remains grateful for Mr Rhodes’ service over his long career, our thoughts are with him and his family at this difficult time."