Monthly Archives: October 2012
How ‘wise’ young carer from Folkestone copes with stress of caring for her mother
How ‘wise’ young carer from Folkestone copes with stress of caring for her mother
EVERY day, when Bethany gets home from school, she gives mother Jane Crammond a wash. She helps with Jane’s physiotherapy, washes up and tidies, washes her mother’s hair twice a week.
It is a far cry from the way most 11-year-olds spend their evenings, but Bethany is different. Jane describes her as a “wise head on young shoulders” and certainly, although tiny in stature, Bethany does not seem to let life stand in her way. It was she who, aged eight, volunteered to care for her mother.
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Bethany has cared for mum Jane since she suffered a stroke
“It makes me feel happy inside that I can help,” she explains seriously. “It will help Mummy a lot to get better.”
Jane, who also has a 15-year-old son, was unaware of any health problems before she had the stroke, at the age of 42.
Although she went back to work at the Post Office
afterwards, her poor mobility and balance meant she had to leave six months later.
A fall a few months after that complicated issues further and she is currently unable to leave the house.
“Bethany’s my rock ,” she says proudly. “She’s always there to support me, encourage me, to say: ‘Come on Mummy, you can do it’.
Disabled fearful of income loss, campaigners say
Eight-in-10 people claim losing their disability living allowance (DLA) will drive them into isolation, a coalition of 90 disabled people’s groups says.
In a survey of more than 4,500 UK disabled people, the Hardest Hit campaign found nine in 10 fear the DLA loss will be bad for their health.
The DLA is to be replaced in 2013 by the personal independence payment.
The government said money was too often wasted on overpayments where people’s conditions have changed.
At Prime Minister’s Questions last week, David Cameron spoke of the plan to give more money to “severely disabled children” and a lower amount for less disabled people, which “showed the right values and the right approach”.
