Harvey Norman, Balgowlah, donate furniture to quadruple amputee Jason Miller

Quadruple amputee Jason Miller will be able to have Christmas in his own home this year after Harvey Norman stepped in at short notice to help.

Buddy and Jhayda Miller at Harvey Norman Balgowlah on Thursday, 10 December 2020. Harvey Norman is helping furnish Buddy Miller's new home. Picture / Monique Harmer

Quadruple amputee Jason Miller deserves a good Christmas this year.

Two years ago the single father from Sydney’s northern beaches was struck down with a life-threatening illness that robbed him of his hands and feet, his job and his home.

Then all his possessions which had been put in a storage unit at Rent a Space Brookvale went up in flames while he was recovering in hospital.

For the last two Christmases he’s been in hospital or rehab.

This year after a long battle to find suitable accommodation, he’s got the keys to a new place and will be able to have his daughter Jhayda, 9, stay with him.

From left Scott Purcell electrical proprietor at Harvey Norman, Buddy and Jhayda Miller and Kyle Byrne, another proprietor at Harvey Norman pose at the store. Picture / Monique Harmer

To make sure he could move in before Christmas, various proprietors at Harvey Norman’s Balgowlah store have stepped in to provide beds, a lounge and a coffee table, as well as a $500 voucher for extras, because he literally has nothing.

“It means I can move in and have Christmas in my own home for the first time since all this happened,” Mr Miller, 50, also known as Buddy, said.

“The guys at Harvey Norman have given us a great head start to our new life.”

Doctors at Northern Beaches Hospital said they'd never seen anyone so ill as Jason 'Buddy' Miller survive. Picture: Supplied.

The well-known former Manly ferry worker and dedicated Manly Sea Eagles fan said recovering from losing his hands and feet after he developed sepsis in 2018 had been difficult, but finding suitable accommodation was hard too.

“I had more than a year in hospital, then a year in rehab and then I was told I had to move out and was offered either a place in a nursing home or in a cerebral palsy unit,” he said.

“I chose the cerebral palsy unit.”

Before the illness. At work on the Manly Ferry. Picture: Supplied.

But when COVID hit the unit in St Ives went into strict lockdown and he wasn’t able to see his daughter, his family, or even his own carer for months.

“I spent my 50th birthday by myself,” he said.

For the past few months he’s been living in a hotel. And with it looking like no specialist accommodation would be available anytime soon, he decided to look privately and found a two-bed ground floor unit not far from his daughter’s school.

He moves in on Saturday.

Scott Purcell, electrical proprietor at Harvey Norman’s Balgowlah store, said the whole team was happy to help to make Buddy’s dream of getting in his own home for Christmas come true.

Jason ‘Buddy’ Miller and daughter Jhayda are looking forward to moving into their new home on Saturday, after Harvey Norman helped furnish it. Picture / Monique Harmer

“Although we are part of a big organisation, there are six local self-employed proprietors in the store and we are very much focused on the local community,” he said.

“We all wish Buddy and his family all the best.”

Paul Chapman, who has the bedding franchise, provided beds for Mr Miller and his daughter.

“Every now and then we hear about a true need in the community,” he said.

“When we heard Buddy’s story we knew we could make a difference.”