Written by Semra Mentes

I met this lovely lady in hospital six months ago when I was induced with my daughter. I overheard her conversation one day and she broke down crying. Her story is as follows. She was living in St Thomas's hospital almost her entire pregnancy because she had no home and was pregnant. She also suffers with epilepsy. Social services chose to place her in a hospital to live instead of providing her with accommodation. She's been living in the UK for 19 years. She originally came from America to escape something terrible which happened to her as a child. She's struggled with her residency, because the rules when immigrating from America are very different from other countries. She's unable to work due to her status and the seriousness of her epilepsy and she's also not entitled to any benefits, so is unable to claim. She has no family here, hardly any friends. She's been homeless in the U.K. her entire life until she met a man, fell in love, fell pregnant and finally thought she had it all but then he changed, became abusive and she did what was right by her unborn child and herself and left but this meant having nothing and being alone and scared once again. Her story now is she lives in Scotland. She moved there at the end of her pregnancy because an old friend she knew offered to take her in and financially support her and her child. She continuously asked her old friend if she could definitely support her and her son and the family agreed they could however a month into her move and everything changed. The woman decided she can't support her and can't tolerate the sons screaming (he has reflux) the family provide her with £30 a month and expect this to cover everything her and her baby needs. She truly is an amazing lady and you'd never know just how hard her life is as she smiles and laughs as if her life is perfect. Any donations are truly appreciated. X