Sam is 14 years old and dreams of becoming a doctor. He lives with his eight-year-old sister Susannah, and his mum. His mum has diabetes and has trouble walking. Because Sam’s mum finds it difficult to walk, she spends a lot of time indoors and relies on Sam to help her and Susannah.
Before Sam had any help, life was difficult. On a normal day he would prepare breakfast for his mum and sister, help his mum with her medication and make sure that she was OK before he went to school with his sister. Before he got to school, he would drop Susannah off at her school.
Sometimes, because of all the things he had to do in the morning, he would be late for school and his form teacher always asked why he was late. He wanted to tell the teacher, but he didn’t want to do it in front of his classmates, so he usually made excuses.
During school, he found it hard to concentrate in lessons because he was often worrying about his mum. He knew that he was behind in some subjects, and this made him worry even more. He thought the teachers would think he wasn’t interested or bothered about his school work. But sometimes school work had to come second.
After school, he couldn’t join in football training or hang out with his mates because he had to rush to pick up his sister and then get home to make sure his mum was OK. As well as getting his homework done, Sam had to prepare dinner, make sure that the house was clean and tidy, and help his sister get ready for bed. Sometimes he wouldn’t get to bed until midnight and would be so tired he often found it hard to stay awake the next day at school.
How Sam got help with caring
Sam’s situation continued like this for many months, and he had no hope of things getting better. He thought it would just carry on getting worse. But one afternoon, after a difficult day at school, Sam plucked up the courage to tell a teacher he trusted about what was going on at home. He managed to speak to the teacher in private. The teacher was really understanding and knew a bit about young carers. She arranged for some extra help for Sam, and she talked to a support worker who helped Sam’s mum.
Now, Sam’s mum has an emergency alarm fitted in her house so that she can call for help if something happens to her. That's helped Sam to stop worrying about her when he's out of the house. The support worker also comes during the week to help Sam’s mum with cooking and cleaning so Sam is doing less of that now.
At school, things have changed too. Sam is allowed to use the school secretary’s phone to call his mum at break times and check that she's OK. He's met other young carers in his school. They meet up during lunchtime once a week. His school has a young carers notice board. He's having extra help in subjects he finds hard, nearly all his grades have improved, and his dream of becoming a doctor feels more possible now.
