HOW RAIN BOWS HELPS PEOPLE LIKE YOUNG MASON AND HISMUM
MASON Bryant-Earp went to Rainbows after eight months at Sheffield Children’s Hospital.
He and mum Nicole recently left Rainbows after staying at the hospice for eight months.
Four-year-old Mason was born with skeletal dysplasia, a rare genetic disorder that affects bones and joints. He also has a spinal cord injury. His treatment has included spinal surgery and a tracheostomy.
Nicole, 24, said: “The spinal cord injury is really rare. It took doctors eight months to find it.
“Mason couldn’t even hold his head up. I was heartbroken. You never think this kind of thing will happen to your children.
“It just tore my whole world apart. Mason was my only child. The only person in my life that I put before me.
“And it was such a lot for such a little boy to be going through.”
Mason went to Rainbows from hospital where he required support from the long-term ventilation staff, a specialism the hospice will be expanding so it can care for more children like him.
“Being at Rainbows has brought Mason on so much and it is wonderful.”
Nicole said. “With his physiotherapy and special care, it is amazing to see him develop and see his confidence improve.
“He has done so well. He can sit up by himself again now.
“The staff at Rainbows have been great, they seem to have brought him out of his shell.
“He was really shy with people, didn’t speak to many people. But at Rainbows he seems to want to talk to everybody and he has learned to do new things.
“I felt so comfortable, and trusted everyone at Rainbows. At first I used to really worry about going there with it being a new team of people.
“But it was so nice to feel at home after spending so long in hospital.
“The staff are great with me as well as Mason. There is always someone there to talk to and we got proper meals.”
Ms Taylor said: “We help the East Midlands’ poorliest children and, although challenging, the work we do at Rainbows is vital and so rewarding.
“We work to make every day, for every child, the best day it possibly can be – right up to their last.”