“A couple of days later, I was admitted to a psychiatric hospital suffering a nervous breakdown. I was prescribed tranquilizers and then treated as a day patient for several months afterward.”
She said her marriage suffered as they were always worried and distressed because of their disabled son.
“One day, Stephen’s doctor sat us down and told us that Stephen needed an operation to remove his spleen. He said he would ‘go to sleep and never wake up without it. Those were his exact words.”
“Looking back, I believe the doctor was guiding us towards allowing our son to pass away naturally, but we didn’t understand then what he was trying to do for us.”
“I wish we had – it would have spared us all a great deal of pain. Instead, he had the operation and spent five weeks at the hospital recovering, with me at his bedside as often as possible.”
She said now Stephen lives in sheltered accommodation in Kent with 24/7 care and support.
“When we go to pick him up at the weekends, we have no idea what will happen. Sometimes he refuses to come with us; sometimes, he insists on being taken back to the home as soon as he’s had a biscuit and a drink of water or, if we’re lucky, he will be happy to stay.”
The mother of two stated that had Stephen not been born, she would have gone to have another child, and her family wouldn’t have suffered through all these years.
“I know this will shock many: this is my son, whom I’ve loved, nurtured, and defended for nearly half a century, but if I could go back in time, I would ab*rt him in an instant.”
Don’t take me wrong, but I know he would outlive us, and his brother and I become seriously upset whenever I think about his future without anyone to take care of him.” The mother concluded.
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