2021 Winner
Eden and Kaitlin Brookshaw
Youngsters who help mum care for their disabled sister didn’t leave home for five months to protect her from coronavirus.
Eden, 13, and Kaitlin, 10, were honoured with the Spirit of Manchester Award for the sacrifices they made to keep their sister safe during the pandemic.
They didn’t leave their house for five months to make sure Isabel, who was deemed extremely clinically vulnerable, was not at risk of exposure to Coronavirus.
Actor and Pride of Manchester judge Chris Bisson said: “The last year has been tough for everyone, and young people in particular have had to make huge sacrifices during the pandemic, especially these two remarkable sisters.”
The girls’ mum Andrea, 38, explained: “The girls are fiercely protective of their sister and love her to bits. There isn’t anything they wouldn’t do for her.”
Isabel, 14, was born healthy but a mystery illness when she was seven left her unable to speak, partially-sighted and with epilepsy. She needs round-the-clock care.
“There are lots of people in our situation, and if you have siblings that are vulnerable then you just have to do your best for them,” said Andrea. “That’s the way they were brought up.
“From the beginning we talked about what would happen if Isabel caught the coronavirus. They saw how serious it could be and that she caught it, she could die and they were determined to do everything to keep her safe. They heard people talking about people like Isabel not being given ventilators and that shocked them. It was like, ‘no, we all need to pull together now and keep Isabel safe.’”
Andrea, who lives in Ashton-under-Lyne, says the girls didn’t complain once about not being able to go out and see friends for five months. Instead they decided to do all they could to keep their sister smiling and happy.
“They are really close. The girls had to help me get Isabel up in the morning, help me change her, help me get her in her chair.
“When Isabel has a shower we all have our own jobs, Eden holds the shower head, Kaitlin washes her and I do her hair. If she has a seizure when I am not in the room, they don’t even shout for me anymore – they just deal with their sister having a seizure.
“We had gorgeous weather so we were lucky that we could go into the garden. The more Isabel laughed, the higher they jumped on the trampoline or in the paddling pool. Anything to make her laugh. It was like they were putting on a show every day.”
For the girls, the hardest part of shielding was not seeing friends and family.
“I really, really missed my friends,” said Kaitlin. “I couldn’t go into school, and couldn’t go out and play. It was hard.
t the beginning we didn’t even have Zoom calls with school, we just had worksheets to do.
“But it was important what we did for Isabel because if we didn’t, she may have caught Covid. We wanted to keep her as safe as we could and also help our mum.”
Andrea added: “Kaitlin suffered in particular with her mental health, not seeing her friends. At their age it’s all about being around your friends. Being back at school and having that bit of normality back has done wonders for her and helped her recover.
“It certainly was a tough few months, but I had to keep it together for the girls. But they are what got me through it. I just thought we had to make the most of all being together, and looking back we will never have time like that again.”