Anna and her family

She has seizures and her development is restricted, both physically and mentally.

A huge setback

Anna had been doing well – she was standing up, and able to walk and feed herself – but then she had a huge setback. ‘Two or three nights in a row she was awake all night, and nothing helped,’ her mother Clare explains. ‘She’d try to stand up but would then crumple onto the floor.

I’d put food in her mouth, but it was like she didn’t know it was there – she couldn’t eat.’

Anna had fallen into a permanent convulsive state and doctors were unable to bring her out of it for four weeks, by which time she had suffered massive brain damage – and had lost all the skills she had developed. ‘It was heartbreaking,’ Clare says.

Help from CHASE

Help at home from CHASE was invaluable while the family was struggling with the enormous strain, and gave them some precious time out. The family also stays at Christopher’s, where Anna feels at ease and they can relax, while CHASE care team members attend to Anna’s complex medical needs.

Whenever Anna stays, Margaret, the cook, makes sure her favourite – macaroni cheese – is on the menu. Clare says: ‘Christopher’s is such a reassuring building, so welcoming. It smells good, it doesn’t smell like an ill place – it’s clean and bright and the bedrooms are wonderful.’

Anna has started to regain some of her skills, and is just beginning to stand up on her own again.