A MAN with just weeks left to live has issued a heartfelt appeal to be put up in Wellington so he can die in his hometown.  David Smith, 55, has been told by doctors he has just two months left to live – and his final wish is to die in Wellington, where can be near “what remains” of his family.   Mr Smith said he would be happy with any arrangement – a hotel room, lodgings, or sheltered accommodation, because he does not want to die in Wales, where he now lives.  Mr Smith had worked as the quality assurance manager for Aerosols International, which used to own the Swallowfield factory in Station Road.  His work took him to Wales 12 years ago, where he worked as a senior food safety official who in his time rumbled a luxury department store for miss-selling mincemeat.  The former quality control official had a clean bill of health, until 2020 when he caught Covid, and was left debilitated by the disease. 

The illness degraded Mr Smith’s health, contributing, he said, to five strokes in four years, a heart attack, blindness in one eye, the onset of diabetes and a host of other ailments. 

Mr Smith added his current living arrangements in sheltered accommodation had become untenable, in part because of a bullying campaign launched against him by a neighbour. He said: “I don’t want to die in Wales, I want to die in Wellington. I was born there, my parents grew up there, and all the family I have left live in the area. 

“I am being bullied by my neighbour who lives above me. He has headbutted me – he throws my clothes out of the communal washing machine, and has threatened to hit me again over the recycling. 

“I am desperate to get away, I keep my door locked all the time.”  Unable to walk, and now registered blind, Mr Smith cannot work and relies on state benefits and a pension annuity to survive. He said he had to battle for PIP, after twice being denied the welfare payment. 

In his younger days Mr Smith played for a number of Wellington football clubs, and is described by friends as having been a ‘popular local footballer’ who turned up every week to ‘give his all’ for the town. 

But now Mr Smith said his degraded health meant each day was worse than the last. He said: “I can’t walk, I can’t see out of my left eye, my career is over. Life is worse every day. I don’t want my life to end far away from home.”  Mr Smith is now appealing to anyone in Wellington who may have a room to help him relocate to the town, so he can spend his last days ‘at home’, near his family.  He said: “Anything will do, a small hotel room, lodging, or sheltered accommodation. I am desperate to get out of here.”  If you think you could help David Smith, please get in touch via the paper at [email protected]