When 14-year-old Izzy suddenly became ill with encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain, in October 2017, she and her family had no idea that her life would become very different.
In the years that followed, Izzy’s behaviour became harder and harder for her parents to cope with. The impact of the encephalitis had caused lasting changes to Izzy’s personality which meant she increasingly found it difficult to be at home with her parents and often was prone to sudden mood swings and challenging behaviour.
Izzy and her family were eventually referred to a Barnardo’s children’s home for support in the spring of 2021.
Recalling how she was diagnosed with encephalitis Izzy says: “At the time I was nine and I was experiencing flu-like symptoms, so my mum took me to the doctors’ surgery. The doctor told my mum to keep giving me Calpol and Nurofen as they thought it was a winter bug, but then a few hours later I suddenly became very ill. My mum had to call an ambulance and as the paramedics were taking me inside, I started fitting. My next memory is waking up in the hospital and my parents telling me I had been in a coma for 10 days.
"I had to relearn how to walk, talk, eat, go to the toilet, pretty much everything again. I felt like I was a different person. Encephalitis affected my behaviour, but at the time I don’t think my parents or the doctors realised this would be a long-lasting change.
"When I went back to school, I found it hard to concentrate. I wasn’t able to be in lessons all the time. I didn’t see much of my friends. My mood would go up and down.
It felt like I wasn’t going to have a normal childhood again.
"My relations with my family became difficult and my Mum and Dad eventually realised they needed support as I was being so disruptive at home.
"My parents were told about Barnardo’s by a social worker. Being in care has allowed me to learn new things about myself which has helped improve my behaviour and relations with my family. The staff at Barnardo’s are really nice and supportive.
"A lot of people assume being in care means parents will never see their children again, but then you realise with many types of care it’s not actually like that. At Barnardo’s the staff do their very best to make sure parents can still see their children, but care is also about acknowledging that sometimes children and parents need to be in different spaces to get a family back on track.
"I still get to see my parents and the plan is for me to eventually be able to return home, but at the moment living at Barnardo’s works best for me. Most people don’t know what it’s like to be in care and might assume it’s a negative thing for a young person which it isn’t. When it was first explained to me that I was going into care, I thought it would be scary and assumed it would be some type of big ‘unit’ or hospital setting, but it’s not, it’s a home environment and it’s just to give young people a bit more support.
I live in a lovely large house with a big garden and my own room, and I still get to do the things which other young people who aren’t in care enjoy like trampolining, bowling and rock climbing.
"I really think politicians and teachers need to do more to let people know care is not scary and that it can really help families. Not many teachers know the realities of what it’s like for care-experienced children and young people. There’s a stigma attached to it, and it needs to be challenged.
"Before I started receiving support from Barnardo’s, I didn’t think it would have been possible for me to return to a classroom environment but home-schooling from Barnardo’s has really helped and they have been able to find me a new school to attend which I’m really enjoying.
"Barnardo’s have also given me opportunities to get involved with the charity such as sitting on recruitment interview panels for senior leaders and helping to raise awareness of the challenges that children and young people face.
"When I’m older I hope to get a job and go to uni. I’d like to study tourism and travel the world. I think it’s important people know children in care just want to lead a normal life. Barnardo’s is helping me to do that every single day and the support they provide to children and young people is just brilliant."
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