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.

“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’.