2:20pm Tuesday 16th March 2010
By Alicia Kelly
How do you tell a child that the brother or sister they love might not be around forever? How do you find the words to explain that they might not even be here for another year?
It’s just one of the additional challenges that face many of the families who use Acorns Children’s Hospice.
It’s also just one of the reason’s why the centre runs a sibling group, which offers help and support for the brothers and sisters of the life-limited children cared for at the hospice.
The hospice in Bath Road, Worcester, prides itself on supporting the whole family, including siblings as well as parents and grandparents.
One of those to have benefited from the group is Peter Davison, the younger brother of Robert, whose story was told in your Worcester News on Saturday.
Peter initially appears to be a typical 13-year-old who goes to Christopher Whitehead Language College and has ambitions to go in the RAF.
However, after just a few minutes chatting with him, it becomes obvious that this bright, articulate youngster is older than his years.
It’s no surprise really. Peter has had to deal with family life with a brother who needed round-the-clock care and has had to cope with his sibling’s death – all before reaching his teens.
Peter remembers making sandwiches and boiling an egg when he was just seven and would sometimes help his mum Sally care for Robert by standing by his brother’s bed to make sure he didn’t fall out.
Mrs Davison, of Worboys Road, St John’s, Worcester, said Peter had inevitably had to grow up early.
She said: “He learned to survive because he got so fed up of me saying, ‘In a minute Peter’. He grew up quickly and he did miss out on a lot because Robert always came first but Acorns gave us that break so we could concentrate on Peter and then he could be number one.”
Acorns also gave direct support to Peter through the siblings group, where he took part in film-making workshops and was able to make friends with other youngsters.
Chloe Herron, aged 11, her sister Charlotte, 10, and her brother Clayton, eight, are also members of the group.
They are the brothers and sisters of Gashow Abdallah, a five-year-old with a very rare condition affecting her brain.
They join the sibling group once a month for arts and crafts or day trips.
Charlotte said: “Sometimes we play games. It’s really fun. They tell us what everything means.”
Chloe said: “We make things for disabled people to enjoy seeing. We sing about them and go on day trips.”
Their mum Wendy Herron, of Brickfields, Worcester, said: “They always get the children in a circle and talk to them about life-limited children so if anything happens, they understand it.
“They explain it to them so that they may be able to cope with it more easily. It takes a lot of stress off the parents.”
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