Five years ago, Malcolm Spratt, manager of a locksmiths and Mrs Spratt, secretarial worker at the Mutual Friendly Society in Bristol, took a career turn and became full-time carers to their three children who suffer from a rare chromosome disorder. Two of them are severely disabled.
Joshua, their oldest child, is eight but functions as a four year old. He can neither speak nor hear and has to wear glasses to correct his vision. Since the age of two, he has suffered from asthma, severe epilepsy and eczema. He has needed splints on his legs to help him walk and had to have a wheelchair recently. He now attends a specialist school full-time.
His six-year old sister Bethany suffers from learning difficulties, slow development and challenging behaviour and has been assigned an assisted place in a mainstream primary school. She is long-sighted and only walks with difficulty. Her young brother, four-year-old Aaron, is hyper-active, and keeps his parents on their toes even at night when he has difficulties falling asleep.
Malcolm Spratt says: ‘A substantial amount of what my wife and I earned went towards childcare. When Joshua and Bethany were diagnosed we had to reconsider our whole lifestyle, as the appropriate care would have cost more than we could afford. We now see to their needs full-time, and can put all our energy into helping them grow and learn to their best abilities.’
Raising funds to meet their children’s special needs became an additional necessity. Unable to go to a park to play, the Spratt’s realised that they had to do something themselves and rose to the challenge. They wrote numerous letters and searched the web for charities that could help with the costs of converting their conservatory into a soft play and sensory room and their garden into a safe area to play in a stimulating and exciting environment.
Mrs Spratt says: ‘Fortunately, we received a grant from Elizabeth Finn Care to help with play equipment. It has made such a difference to us and the other special needs children our three have become friends with. We no longer have to worry and now know that they have a safe place to play.’
