It’s just Carmela and her mum for now because her dad, Darren, a delivery driver, is delivering COVID-19 test kits to hospitals all over the UK from Monday to Friday and living in their garden log cabin when he returns at the weekends.To pass the time, Carmela is making colourful acrylic pictures and cupcakes for older people at her local care home.
Her mum Lucy said:
At the moment Carmela only sees Daddy from a distance in the garden. Due to his job he is not allowed indoors. Our family live in Surrey, however we have had FaceTime and phone calls with friends and family. So it’s just me and Carmela. We have stopped our respite carer visits from our children’s Hospice ‘Julia’s House’ as I didn’t want to take the risk of contamination.
She added:
We have a lovely village community who are helping us by collecting medication and food shopping – and I have arranged a surprise birthday sing-song outside when about five neighbours will stand in their gardens for Carmela’s sixth birthday.
Muscular Dystrophy UK Regional Development Manager South Wales and South West, Nicole Beebee said:
It’s inspiring to see how Carmela and her mum are coping in what is a stressful time for us all. As well as dealing with muscular dystrophy. Now the family have to self- isolate and Darren is living in the garden log cabin to shield his family from being exposed to Coronavirus. It must be so tough for them all.
Lucy added:
I did ask Carmela how she feels about no school, not being able to see her friends and family and these were her words: ‘I feel good and a little sad because I don’t see my friends anymore. I miss my teachers but mostly Mrs Morris my teaching assistant, but it’s OK because I have mummy and my puppy Tinker.’
Because I’m a former teacher and fitness instructor, I usually keep Carmela very physically active with ballet, horse-riding and swimming. In the current situation, she is doing morning exercise in front of the TV – just like millions of other children in the UK right now.
Help us continue to support Carmela
We are as committed as ever to making every day count for people with muscle-wasting conditions. You’ll appreciate that in these unprecedented times, we face the very real concern that we will be unable to continue offering support as we do now.
Please consider making a donation to support the additional strain on our services and help minimise the loss of cancelled fundraising events and share our appeal with anyone who can help spread the word or give their support:
Guidance on Covid-19
Our guidance for Covid-19 for people with muscle-wasting conditions is being constantly updated: