Sussex weekly round-up: 20 July - 26 July 2024
BBC The story about the artist who is creating the "world's first doodle train" on the Kent & East Sussex Railway proved a popular read this week.
A variety of local issues featured on the BBC News website, BBC Radio Sussex and BBC South East Today.
We have picked five stories from the past week in case you missed them.
Father of three fundraising after cancer diagnosis
Lewis DainesA father of three from West Sussex has raised almost £50,000 to support his wife and children after he was diagnosed with a cancer that normally cannot be cured.
Lewis Daines, from Crawley, had a persistent cough that led to the discovery of his metastatic lung cancer in May.
The aggressive form of cancer has spread to his bones, liver and brain, Mr Daines said.
He said: "The thought of not seeing my children grow up, taking them to school, or being there to support them is heartbreaking."
'I'm scared I can't sell my home after flooding'
A woman from Hastings says she has been left traumatised and angry after her home flooded twice with sewage in 2023, less than a year after she bought the property.
Kellie Sutherland's home was flooded with sewage in January 2023 and then again in October 2023.
Searches were carried out by Southern Water at the time of purchase that concluded there was "no risk" of the house flooding.
Southern Water said "calculating flood risk is an extremely complicated process" and that Hastings' heavy rainfall was brought about by climate change.
Amputee calls for NHS apology over failings
A woman who had part of her leg amputated following hospital failings in Sussex has said she is still waiting for an apology – nine years on.
Karen Webb, from Seaford, said she was left with severe mobility issues after staff at Brighton's Royal Sussex County Hospital and Eastbourne District General Hospital failed to treat an infected ulcer between 2014 and 2015.
"It would be so important to me to hear them acknowledge what they did, to meet me and just say we are sorry," she said.
The NHS trusts representing the hospitals, which financially compensated Ms Webb, said they were "always willing" to meet with patients "unhappy with their care".
Woman reunited with paramedics who saved her life
SecambA woman from West Sussex has thanked the ambulance crew who helped save her life after complications following the birth of her child.
Sophie Turner, from Hassocks, was suffering with immense pain six days after her second child was delivered via caesarean section.
South East Coast Ambulance Service paramedics found that her cut had opened, exposing her intestines and bowel.
Ms Turner said she was "absolutely terrified" and "100 per cent certain I was about to die".
Rare white squirrel in garden mistaken for ferret
Gary TarrantA man who saw a rare albino squirrel in his Sussex garden said at first he thought it was a ferret.
Gary Tarrant from East Grinstead said he saw the animal on his bird feeder, which usually attracts grey squirrels and birds including starlings.
A Sussex Wildlife Trust spokesperson confirmed the animal was an albino grey squirrel, said to be a one-in-100,000 genetic occurrence.
Some reports claim there are about 50 in the country.
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