Community: Real Life

Holiday heaven and hell


Becky

Becky is 17 and cares for her sister who has cerebral palsy, and her mum who has multiple sclerosis. Here, she tells us what life is like as a young carer.
Entry: 3
Date: 17/07/2006

Volcanic rock, hilly paths, steps and grumpy airline staff are no friends of Becky and her family, who just want a relaxing summer break.

I'm back from sunny Fuerterventura - I had a good time, but there were some really bad moments, too.

Firstly, the holiday didn't get off to a great start because there had been a mix-up with the flight bookings - it turned out that four of us didn't even have our names down for the flight. It all got sorted out, even though we had to deal with a really horrible woman at check-in. My Mam and I were lifted onto the plane by a special vehicle designed for people in wheelchairs. The ride was really scary - it was so bumpy that I think the camel I rode while I was on holiday was much safer than that thing.

Next stop: Fuerterventura. We arrived after four and a bit hours, and my Mam and I were last off the plane as we needed assistance. I asked the airline staff for Mam's wheelchair to be brought up to the doorway of the plane, but they acted as though they couldn't have cared less - they practically chucked the wheelchair at us. Anyway, the main thing was that she now had the wheelchair. But there was yet another problem: my Dad noticed that one of the wheelchair legs didn't look right, so he had a look and realised that the airline had lost an essential part of it. Surely our holiday could only get better from here?

After a 40-minute bus ride to our apartment, we discovered another problem: there was no wheelchair access to the reception. This meant it was hard work checking in - we had seven suitcases, six hand-luggage bags, a wheelchair and crutches. We left Mam outside in the pool area while we sorted out everything at reception and went to find our apartments. But what did we find at the apartments? You guessed it: more steps. The staff gave us a wooden board to act as a slope so we could push Mam up it, but she didn't like it one bit because she was scared that if we let go of her she'd roll straight back down and into the pool. 

Mam was scared that if we let go of her she'd roll straight back down and into the pool.

That same night we went down to the town. And when I say down I mean down - when we booked the apartments we weren't told that they were on a hill. We weren't very happy because the paths were really steep, which meant it was a huge effort to push my Mam's wheelchair up them. My Dad and I ended up taking it in turns to push her. It was also really hard for my sister to walk up and down them on her crutches.

We had a day trip to Oasis Park, which is a bit like a zoo. We went on a camel ride which was good fun, but I'd never do it again! Before we went on this outing we asked our rep if it would be wheelchair-friendly all the way, and she said yes. Because of this, we didn't take Mam's walking sticks as it sounded like she wouldn't have to get out of the chair. However, at one point the ground was made from volcanic rock, which broke the front wheel of my Mam's wheelchair. This meant that my auntie had to help Mam walk the rest of the way, even though it was hilly. My Mam just cried for the rest of the day. This put a real downer on the holiday altogether as Mam didn't have her own wheelchair and instead we had to hire one.

Apart from all this, there were moments when we did have a good laugh. Mind you, I got really sunburnt on my shoulders - it felt like I had been stung by a jelly fish. I needed to cover up my shoulders, which was a bit of a problem as I had taken loads of vest tops but only two t-shirts. So I had to keep washing my t-shirts just so I could keep my shoulders covered.

We feel like we need another holiday to recover after this one. Luckily enough, my Mam and I are going on a break to Amsterdam for the second time soon, which was part of my prize for being nominated as Champion Carer. Let's just hope we manage to get on the boat successfully and that the wheelchair stays in one piece.


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