Jacob is a happy, engaging boy who loves to laugh with his long-term carer and best friend Friska. Jacob is is severely physically and mentally disabled. His cerebral palsy affects all four limbs and he is registered blind, requiring 1:1 care during the day and night. To get him in and out of a car into his wheel chair, Jacob needs an adapted car seat – one that swivels to allow for ease of movement. At 34 kilos, it can be a tough job for Jacob’s mum Natalie and Friska to lift him in an out of the car. A specialist car seat costs nearly £1000 – money that the family simply doesn’t have. Natalie was living and working in Indonesia, when she met and married her children’s father. Due to the difficulty of accessing health and care services on the island and the break-down of her marriage, Natalie decided to return to the UK where she felt her son would be given more support. Indonesian-born Friska accompanied the family in order to support Jacob until a care package could be put in place. She is Jacob’s lifeline. She speaks ‘his’ language (Jacob’s version of Indonesian), and attends his school with him - the bond between them is exceptionally strong. Natalie assumed the care package would take under six months, however she will not receive support for Jacob until May 2017 as she is not entitled to any benefits, such as DLA, Motorbility and Carers’ Allowance, until she has been in the UK for two years. Therefore, Natalie needs to look for work to survive and she needs Friska’s help to look after Jacob while she works. The long battle to get to the UK took its toil both financially and mentally. She struggles with a back condition as a result of having to constantly lift Jacob in and out of his car seat into his adapted wheel chair. A specialist swivel seat would make this a lot easier.
If you can make a donation – however small or large – it would make a huge difference to Jacob and his loving family.