Charity step in to help Irvine family

Oct 26 2012 by Lorraine Howard, Irvine Herald

An Irvine family had to call in for help from The Sick Childrens Trusts Home from Home accommodation when their daughter, who suffers from cerebral palsy, took ill on holiday. Mum Fiona Dever tells her story.

Unless it happens to you, or someone close to you, you may not realise how vital a service a charity such as The Sick Childrens Trust provides. We are fortunate in the UK to have free health care at the point of need, but there are so many financial and practical implications when your child becomes sick that go beyond medicine and medical treatment.

Our daughter, Gracie, was born in 2011 with cerebral palsy, and this has led to her needing a lot of intensive input from doctors and therapists in her young life, including several hospital stays. We are a little unusual as a family because Gracies dad, John, also has cerebral palsy; although this is a coincidence as the condition cannot be inherited.

We were in Filey, North Yorkshire, on our first family holiday since Gracie had been born, and a day or two before arriving, Gracie was pronounced fit to travel.

However, on holiday she developed breathing problems and she was taken to LeedsGeneral Infirmary. We had the worry of Gracie being taken suddenly ill and needing wheelchair accessible accommodation for John in a city where we knew no-one.

Gracie was more ill than we first realised and she needed to be in the LGIfor three weeks, some of the time in intensive care. The hospital itself could provide a room for one days stay, but although we were grateful to be able to finally get a sleep after being awake all night whilst Gracie was being stabilised by the medical staff, John had the added problem of the shower being inaccessible.

We were considering checking into a hotel, an expense we could not afford, which we would have had to pay for with our credit card.

Then a nurse mentioned Eckersley House. It made such a difference to us to be given aroom there. They could not only provide us with a bed, but a home from home. It was such a relief to be able to stay minutes from our daughters cot and able to concentrate on her, knowing we had all our practical needs met. Staying at Eckersley House was better than staying in a hotel because we could cook for ourselves and wash ours andGracies clothes. The house had wheelchair access, there was a bathroom John could use and even the kitchen had been adapted. Disabled people are still often not considered when facilities and services for parents are planned, so it was reassuring find our needs catered for.

John was able t o be there for his daughter, as he wished, and he was also able to support me. Also, we were staying next to families in similar situations to ourselves and there were opportunities for us to talk about our children which really helped us get through this emotionally difficult time.

Read more here:
Charity step in to help Irvine family