Sponsor a Family Support Worker for Sick Children

 My name is Erika, I'm 17 years old and I'm currently in hospital. I suffer from a disease called Idiopathic Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension. I've had it since the age of 13 and I wish I didn't. 

It is a chronic and life changing heart and lung condition. My heart works less effectively than yours. Just walking is a task for me, I walk at a slow pace and have to stop often to catch my breath. I also suffer from breathlessness, dizziness, feeling faint, chest pain and tiredness.

I am supported by Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity, they help me and my family cope with my illness.

You can help Rainbow Trust fund more Family Support Workers so that young people like me have someone to talk to about their hopes and fears, while they cope with having a life threatening or terminal illness.

My Rainbow Trust Family Support Worker, Amelia, is absolutely incredible.

When you’re chucked into a situation that you weren’t expecting, you feel totally alone. I don't take to new people very well but Amelia is just amazing and we just click. 

Amelia’s not a friend, she's not family. She cares, but in a different way, so you're not afraid to tell her how you're feeling. When you speak with family and friends, you're worried. You're scared because you don't want them to be sad, or be reminded that you are ill. All you want is to have a nice day, so you don't really want to talk about it.

I'm able to enjoy myself more because I have Amelia to talk to. We laugh 90% of the time, we smile a lot, and we talk often, and that's the best way to be. She can't take my disease away, but she can be there for the bad days, to make everything easier and a lot more enjoyable.

Without Amelia, I'm not really sure where I'd be.

I'm so glad I could write to you to help raise awareness, because without people supporting Rainbow Trust, I have no Amelia, and without her I have no support. Mum agrees that it’s exactly the support we need right now, though in the future we may need more help, and I know that Rainbow Trust will still be there when I need Amelia more.

I worry about the families that don’t have a Family Support Worker like Amelia. There are still thousands of families just like mine that need one right now. By donating to Rainbow Trust, you can give ‘an Amelia’ to more people who need them.

Erika