Young carers: ‘You are not alone’

Hi, my name is Laura I am 19 years old, I grew up as a young carer and I want to share my story with you.

I was adopted at the age of 4 years and that was when my caring role began, I cared for my mum who had a stroke (she was paralysed down her left side) a few years before my parents adopted me. When I was first adopted, my mum's medical condition was not as severe, she was able to walk and was very independent, and my dad worked a full-time job.

By the time I was 6–7 years old, my mum had gone downhill significantly, but she was still able to walk short distances and she still wanted to be very independent.

There is this time that I remember from my childhood where my mum and dad were getting me into bed, and my mum fell over in my bedroom hitting her head on my bed, which at the time was a bunk bed. I remember the feelings like it was yesterday, the fear that it caused to me in my own room. I was ever so upset, my dad called the ambulance for mum but because of how scared I was, I also needed the reassurance that everything was going to be okay. A year went by, my parents then adopted my younger brother.