Tuesday, June 10, 2014 www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk
11
MAIN EDITION
Young caring heroes
In the second part of our series of
features to mark National Carers
Week, JACQUI MORLEY focuses
on young carers
It’s usually a parent who
checks a child is safely
sleeping…
In the Blackpool home of
Mandy and Ashley it’s the
other way round.
Ashley, seven, looks in at
his mum between 2am and
4am nightly, “to make sure
she’s alive.”
It’s th e o n l y way th e
Bispham schoolboy can be
sure mum Mandy has not
slipped into a life-threatening
diabetic coma.
The pair live alone and
Mandy says her little boy has
saved her life time and again.
“I wouldn’t be here if
it wasn’t for Ashley,” says
M a n d y, wh o d e ve l o p e d
insulin-dependent type one
diabetes at 13.
“He goes to bed and then
gets up at between 2am and
4am to check I’m not having
a hypo (hypoglycaemia).
“Overnight, my blood sugar drops so low I pass out. He
comes in and says ‘mummy’. If
I don’t answer him he checks
my blood sugars or rings his
dad or granddad.
“He’s done that four years
now.”
For Ashley, who watches
for any sign his mum’s condition could be changing, it’s
simply part of his daily and
nightly routine.
“I worry a bit,” he adds.
“I get scared if she goes into
hospital. So I go in and say ‘I
love you’ and if she doesn’t
answer I check and ring my
dad or granddad up. If she replies I go back to bed happy.”
Mandy admits: “He
YOUNG STAR Ashley, seven, with his mum Mandy and (inset) sisters Louise 15, Lily, seven, and Katie, 10
worries more at school, sometimes the school will contact
me so they can reassure him.
“At night those words are
a trigger, I love you. If I don’t
respond he checks properly.
If I’m OK I say goodnight, love
you son, and he goes off back
to bed. Sometime he stays at
my side for hours if my blood
sugar’s dropped and he’s making sure I’m getting better. It’s
amazing what he does for me.”
But the pair’s sleep patterns are finally stabilising.
Mandy’s new insulin pump,
rather than the old reliance
on injections, is helping control her diabetes.
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FAMILY
The couple have been
together for 20 years, married
for 19.
“It was a difficult time for
us all but we’re strong and
coming through. For the girls
it’s a joy to come to youth club.
“They would love to go on
more carer trips and outings,
too. They meet other children
who are carers. They don’t
feel different, they are not
made to feel different.”
Chris admits: “I couldn’t
ask for a better family. We still
have fun together.”
Another young carer at
the club, Bethany, nine, helps
look after her four-year-old
profoundly disabled sister.
“It can be quite hard work as
she can’t really tell us what
she wants although I’m good
at understanding her.
“Sometimes she gets frustrated. And it’s 24/7 because
she wakes me up a lot, especially singing nursery rhymes.
I really wanted to have a little
sister so I could play with her
and it’s not quite turned out
as I thought but we play in a
different way.
“She’s very charming and
I love her a lot.”
Activities are organised
by Blackpool Carers’ Centre
staff, including current Young
Carers’ Champion Amy, who
is taking a gap year from university to thank the service for helping give her that
option.
“It’s easy to miss out on the
fun stuff in childhood when
you’re a carer,” says Amy,
who’s cared for her mum
since the age of 13. “You get
locked into the lifestyle.
“The worst thing is it can
cost you friends and your
childhood and education. The
most positive thing is it makes
you independent.
“The youth club is a great
break for them – and me.
That’s why I do what I can for
young carers and young adult
carers.
“It’s crucial they can just be
themselves. We are also really looking forward to the very
first Young Carers Day – at
the Sandcastle Waterpark on
Friday this week.”
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News Editor Matthew Squires 1733
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meet every week at Claremont community centre,
Blackpool, for fun, friendship,
football – and food.
“I’ve had a hot dog and
I don’t know how many
biscuits…!”
Mandy adds: “He was
one of the hidden carers
until about a year ago. Now he
comes to the club. It’s a lifeline for him. It enables him
to be a child and cut loose
and have a break with other
young carers – and just be kids
together.”
Ashley’s friend Lily, seven,
helps her mum and two older
sisters Katie, 10, and Louise,
To assist financially, or as a volunteer, become a crusader for the charity, or to refer a carer for
help, call Blackpool Carers on (01253) 393748, or use the contact form on the website www.
blackpoolcarers.org. You can follow @blackpoolcarers on Twitter.Email kay@blackpoolcarers.
org or write to: Blackpool Carers’ Centre, Norman House, Robson Way, Blackpool FY3 7PP
GET IN TOUCH
Editor Jon Rhodes
“Before, I was all over the
place, I’d snap at Ashley and
he’ll say ‘ mum, check your
sugars’. I’d be having problems overnight two, three
times a week. It’s a lot for him
to put up with and I do feel
guilty about it.
“He’s been looking after me since he was three. I
feel I should be taking care
of him – he’s been diagnosed
with dyspraxia and has some
other issues but he’s the best
son in the world and he loves
and looks after me. He’s my
lifesaver.”
Ashley is now one of a
group of Young Carers who
15, look after their dad Chris,
40, a former builder who was
studying to be an architect
before a heart attack, stroke
and pulmonary embolism
redefined life as they all knew
it.
All of the girls, who are
home-schooled, have their
role to play. “We couldn’t
manage without them,” says
mum Sarah, who put aside
her own studies to become
an accountant.
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