Carer Stories

Miles shares his reflections on his role as a unpaid carer for his daughter with mental ill health, a learning disability and suspected autism.

Phoebe, 11, is a young carer and supports her mum who has cerebral palsy and suffers from anxiety and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

Jo tells the story of how she cared for her late husband Busty and more recently an elderly neighbour.

Paul cares for his wife, Mandy, who has Parkinson’s disease and dementia. Paul has been Mandy’s carer since they moved to Dorset in 2004.

Liz has to do everything for her husband who suffers from Myasthenia Gravis and recently had a fall that broke his back.

Sandra cares for her husband, Ian, who was officially diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in November 2019.She sorts out all aspects of running the home, which includes the organisation of the house, all paperwork, bills and banking.  Ian in appearances looks slim, fit and well but he needs help with everything.

Alfie is 17 and cares for his Mum, who has a Cavernoma (a tumour) in her brainstem which causes her to feel dizzy, have severe headaches and sometime seizures. He describes his experiences of being a young carer and the importance of having a support system in place and people that understand what is going on.

Barbara, 85, cares for her husband who has dementia. She and her husband live alone in four bedroom house which Barbara looks after by herself. The only people who come regularly are a cleaner for a few hours and someone from a care agency one afternoon a week. This leaves Barbara caring for her husband round the clock and helping him to wash and dress every day and sorting out food for them both.

Grace says “At the age of 83, I find this caring role exhausting, some days I am running around non-stop.  I have no life and feel I must surely deserve one.  When all this trouble started I didn't think of myself as a carer but it was just something I did for the person I lived with.  Then somebody pointed out what would happen to Ronan if I wasn’t around or well enough to look after him.” 

I’m a full time carer to my wife Sandy, and I’m so pleased that I have the chance to talk about our experiences and hopefully help people understand a little bit about what caring for somebody with Huntington’s is like.

Chelsea is a young carer aged 8, who lives at home with her mum and sister. Chelsea helps to look after and support her 9 year old sister Phoebe, who has ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) and ASC (autism spectrum condition).

Jennifer explains some of the challenges she's faced as a carer of someone with dementia in a rural part of Dorset.

Sally looks after her elderly mother and has done so for around 17 years. Her caring role started after her mother developed mobility problems which have got worse over the years. Her mother is now housebound and doesn’t really move except from her chair to her commode and back.

Rose has been a carer to her husband Peter for 12 years. Peter has vascular dementia with cognitive impairment and has been gradually declining over the years.

Bob cares for his wife, Patricia and has done for many years. Patricia has COPD, rheumatoid arthritis, spinal stenosis, asthma, some other ailments and also uses a wheelchair.

Finley is 11 years old, he is a young carer for his mum, Emily. Emily suffers from various health conditions including rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia and relies on Finley’s support with day-to-day activities. Finley doesn’t recognise himself as being a young carer. To him, he just thinks what he does is what all children do for their parents.

Patricia has been married to Thomas for over sixty years and is his full-time carer. Thomas has vascular dementia and has no memory of people from the past. Added to this, in the last year Thomas has had a couple of falls as a result of not using his walking frame. Thomas also suffers with swollen, heavy legs.

George has been married to Ann for almost 56 years. Problems first started to appear when Ann had to take early retirement, some twenty years ago, from being a Midwifery Sister due to back problems which were beginning to affect her mobility.

I was carer for my wife, Mary, for three decades, having been together for nearly 46 years. Mary was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis when we were engaged.

Celina was thrown into caring for her Mum at a young age, but no one really understood her caring role and how hard it was to juggle everything at once

If you spot Anthony and Alice Bridges eating out at a restaurant you’ll think they are just like any other couple

Danielle has put her own life and ambitions on hold to care for her mum. There are thousands like her who don’t get the support they need and suffer alone, feeling isolated and unable to reach out.

Helen cares for her 18 year old daughter Maja who was born with the rare condition Kleefstra Syndrome. Maja has a range of issues, include severe learning difficulties and low muscle tone.

Up to June 4th 2012 I was just me, a nearly 40 year old, single, wine drinking, cat-owning sister, aunt, a friend, sometimes the funny one or even the fat one. But that was as far as my labels went and some I liked, some I didn’t. Then, on that day I became a Carer.