Tag Archives: cerebral palsy
Mum joins political elite to fight for carer’s rights
CLARE LALLY is Scottish Labour’s newest addition, bringing her experience of caring for her disabled child to the Shadow Cabinet.
A DEVOTED mum is taking her experience of caring for her severely disabled daughter to the frontline of Scottish politics.
Clare Lally is to join Labour’s shadow cabinet as their first “Carers Champion”.
The role will see the 31-year-old, who has no previous political experience, advise Johann Lamont’s party on the challenges facing Scotland’s 660,000 carers.
Clare, of Duntocher, Dunbartonshire, said she was delighted to help influence key policy.
She said: “I have always been a Labour supporter. But to actually be able to contribute and help make a difference is a better opportunity than I could have asked for.”
Clare and partner Derek Steel, 36, provide round-the-clock care for Katie, five, who was diagnosed with quadriplegic cerebral palsy after a difficult birth.
Trolley Buddy transforms supermarket shopping
Singing the praises of a new trolley seat
Luckily Linzi found out about a special trolley seat, the Trolley Buddy, developed by the charity Cerebra. The Trolley Buddy is designed to fit into a regular supermarket trolley but provides extra support for children like Zack. When Linzi expressed her interest in the seat, the charity offered to send her one to test before she committed to buy.
Linzi was so pleased with the seat that she posted her own review on a blog – http://theboywithfivenames.blogspot.co.uk/. Linzi says “the Trolley Buddy is so simple – a little portable seat that you can take with you to the supermarket. You just pop it into the trolley, strap it round the back and pop the child in.”
The Trolley Buddy has been so successful that Cerebra have a waiting list for them and are looking for a commercial partner so that they can produce them on a larger scale. Linzi appeals for supermarkets to “buy the Trolley Buddy, have them to hand behind your counter and help us mums and dads out – we just want to take our children shopping.”
Carer Tracey Sloan sacrificed her own health for her disabled son
A mother from Northern Ireland who has cared for her severely disabled son for almost 20 years has joined calls for carers to be given more support.
Tracey Sloan has been describing how she put her own health at risk because of the strain of looking after her son Philip who has cerebral palsy.
She postponed a cancer check-up because there was no-one to look after him, but was later diagnosed with the disease.
Her call comes as a survey found carers are sacrificing their own health.
Difficult
The study, carried out to mark Carers Week, suggested that 40% of people who look after family members or close friends put off their own medical treatment in order to meet the needs of those for whom they care.
