My name is Isabelle Turner and this is my story about my sister.
When I met her face to face I saw a twinkle in her eye that told me one day she would become my hero.
On the 11th October 2004 a baby girl was born, we named her Grace and what a beautiful girl she was.
When I met her face to face I saw a twinkle in her eye that told me one day she would become my hero.
When Grace was 2 and I was 5 we found out she had Rett Syndrome. It was heartbreaking news as I knew this meant she wouldn’t be able to do things that I do.
So Brian House offered to help us which meant the world to me and my family. It meant me and my mum and dad could go out and do normal stuff without having to worry about Grace because she was in a very special place with great people who cared.
When Grace became 4 things started to get worse ,but when she was 5 things got horrendous and she became really poorly.
This is when Brian House became a big part of my life. We kept trying to have a family weekend away but Grace was always in hospital so Brian House used to let her go and stay. We used to spend the day there and I had great fun playing with all the other children and the staff, I loved it. Mum and dad used to sit around Grace’s bed whilst I had loads of fun and I was able to pop in and see them if Grace woke up.
Just before Grace turned 6 we had to move in to Brian House because Grace was very poorly and needed something called end of life care. We lived there for 10 weeks and I got my own bedroom and was even allowed to have my best friend or cousin over to sleep.
Auntie Sue the play worker made me feel as at home as possible. She painted with me, did crafty things and helped me and my cousin Emily make a memory box. When we were doing this stuff she talked to me and helped me understand what was happening with Grace.
I was very scared about going in to see Grace and touching her as she was very poorly. So me and Auntie Sue had a code that meant I wanted to go and see Grace on my own with just Auntie Sue. She would take me into her room so I could talk to her and hold her hand.
Auntie Sue and the staff explained what would happen when Grace passed over and they showed me the Butterfly Suite. They let me ask loads of questions and said we could decorate the room just like we had decorated Grace’s bedroom at the hospice.
Then in December we decided to bring Grace home to fall asleep in her own room. On Christmas Eve Grace became our very own Christmas Angel.
Being part of Brian House was both sad but so much fun. I made loads of friends and I loved helping the staff look after all the other children. I really miss going to Brian House but all the wonderful staff helped me to love my sister through everything and the day she became our Angel she also became my hero.
We want to thank Isabelle for sharing her wonderful story and memories of her sister Grace.
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