Our Wonderful carers

We have a brilliant NHS and police, fire services etc, but along with this we have another service, which is voluntary, and hardly gets a mention at times.

This is our carers,  who never get mentioned largley because the media and the  Government don't really care, until it comes to award ceremonies, then they turn  up and praise those involved. But that's in front of television cameras etc.

We hear about these carers who do wonderful jobs around the world, but many of these have their own individual health problems, which are largely ignored

These people from young children, to the elderly,  do a brilliant job, mostly without any support what so ever from the social services  or the Governments

These people save Governments millions of pounds each year, and hardly get as much as a thank you let alone payments for their role.

Once a carer is retired, they lose their benefits altogether, even though they are still doing the same caring role, and that to me is disgusting

Many years ago my wife had a serious  road accident, after which she had to fight for her life, and then endured over three years of having umteen operations in hospital, where they did their best to save her life,  and then rebuilt  her leg and foot, which were close to being severed.

There were times when I thought we had lost her, and that was hard, because I got so little sleep, due to worrying about what was to come.

During that time, I looked after the children, while keeping my job going, and fitted in hospital visits, which in many cases were after patient visiting hours, but that hospital cared, and supported us in any way they could.

I admit that my wife wasn't with it most of the time, due to all of the pain killers etc, but I needed to go, as did the children. But during that time,  the Sister and nursing staff looked after us all especially the children, and over time we all became firm friends.

During this time our 8 year-old daughter and 6 year old son,  kept me going, because I was permanently shattered, and without them  I would have been in a  mess

Now the roles have reversed and Janice is my carer, and without her I would be lost.

But she hardly ever complains about her leg, which still causes a lot of  problems, she just accepts it.

One of my granddaughters has Asbergers, and life can be difficult for those around her.

But around me she is very caring, and walks away when she is going to have a melt down. Other times she is one of the most protective and caring young girls I could ever meet

She understands when I am struggling, although she can be a little over powering at times,  her heart is in the right place.

My daughter is her carer, and there are times when I feel for her, because seeing these meltdowns and hearing what goes on can be frightening,  if you are not expecting it.

But it's amazing how this young girl puts others first, even though she has her own problems
The other day their neighbour got flooded when a water main burst outside the house at  5am.

Yet this 11 year old young girl asked her mum,  if she could make the firemen a cup of tea. This brought me to tears,  because it proves she trys to think of others at times.

Yes she can cause problems when she is stressed,  hungry or tired, but otherwise she is lovely to be with,

So these days I get really annoyed by the Governments attitude towards carers, because they seem to have little or no respect for them, even though they are doing a brilliant job on their own

What is more,  this Government should be doing more to support these carers  rather than cutting services to the bare bone, while wasting money on unneeded projects.

However it's not just this Government, the last Labour Government under Mr Blair was exactly the same, uncaring

PLEASE, remember Carers come in all ages, and in many cases have their own individual health  problems, "BUT THEY NEVER STOP CARING"

Caring is a   24 hour  role, 7 days a week,  and it takes its tole on our carers, so please think about them,  and respect them