She always looked after me as a child now it was my job to look after her.

Hi I’m Charlie. We set a transportable home on our land in order to care for my mother after she was diagnosed with cancer, and we did this so she could be home and with family. She didn’t want to be in the hospital. Instead the hospital were amazing they set everything up for us, including providing us with a hospital bed and shower chair, we contributed some of the things too that she needed but most things got returned to the hospital later.

During this time I had to learn so much. I had a nurse teach me how to do most things including training on how to give injections and we watched videos together, so in effect, I had some on the ground training in the Carer role.

The nurses from the hospital came out each alternate day for additional support. When Mum came to her new home for the first time, straight from the hospital, all I can say is the hospital staff were really so supportive to me. I was also lucky to have a supportive husband and children. My eldest son was my rock and because he was able to give me strength it helped me to go on and care for her in some dark times. The way I saw it was she always looked after me as a child now it was my job to look after her.