Heartbreak of losing teenage daughter inspired mum to dedicate her life to helping others
DIANA FOUND NEW CALLING PROTECTING VULNERABLE IMMIGRANTS FROM EXPLOITATION
A NOTTINGHAM woman has spoken about how the loss of her teenage daughter motivated her to dedicate her life to helping vulnerable immigrants in the city.
Diana Blaj, 55, runs Roma Support Nottingham and is also a migrant outreach coordinator at POW, an organisation that supports the rights of sex workers.
Ms Blaj, a former English teacher from Romania, moved to England in a desperate bid to keep her daughter, Larisa, alive.
Larisa had cystic fibrosis, a lifelimiting condition which causes sticky mucus to build up in the lungs, digestive system and other organs.
In 2009 a doctor in Romania told Ms Blaj that Larisa’s only hope was a lung transplant – and the best chance of getting it was to move to London.
“I was told that in London there is a higher chance to have a pulmonary transplant, so I left two weeks after having that discussion,” says Ms Blaj.
“In the first year, I came here by myself, without Larisa, because I wanted to make sure I could find good accommodation and get in contact with someone at the hospital.
Larisa was just 14 at the time. “It was a horrible year – it was very hard because I knew she was not well. My mum was looking after her and her doctor was very competent.
“But I knew I had to make this huge step because there was no other option,” she recalls.
Ms Blaj worked as a nanny for families in London and was lucky enough to find a spare room in the heart of the capital, close to the former BBC television studios.
In the following year, she managed to bring Larisa to the UK and transferred her to a school where she made “tons of friends”.
“Larisa’s situation worsened, so we put her name on a waiting list for a transplant”, said Ms Blaj, trying to hide her tears.
“Without any warning, her system failed and she did not get the chance to have it.”
Larisa died suddenly, aged 18, leaving behind a mother who “struggled to find a reason to be alive” for many years.
Until one day, when she decided to leave the place where memories of her daughter were haunting her life.
“My partner and I made the decision to move somewhere else. I closed my eyes and put my finger randomly on a map – and it was Nottingham. We bought a house here and had a horrible year. I then said to myself that I need to find my inner strength and learn how to adapt.”
Diana started to work as an interpreter in Nottingham for Roma communities. Within months, she gained the trust of families and set up a charity to help vulnerable immigrants.
“Many people here were vulnerable and exposed to exploitation because they were struggling with linguistic and cultural barriers,” she said. “With the support of Nottingham City Council’s Cohesion Team I set up this charity – Roma Support Nottingham – which aims to help them.”
In 2016, Diana joined POW – a non-profit, voluntary organisation aimed at protecting the rights of sex workers and those at risk of being exploited.
“I remained speechless when a Romanian girl, aged 19, told me she ended up injecting heroin because she was sick of being alive. “She was a sex worker, and her parents disowned her when they found out. I talked to her mum, and simply told her I would give anything just to speak with my daughter again.
“In two days she rang her and told her to come back home.”
Although Ms Blaj would turn the clock back in a heartbeat, the work she put into strengthening the immigrant communities across the city has helped the vulnerable to integrate into the UK.
“I will never forget about her – it is impossible to,” she added. “But sometimes I wonder if this is what her mission was – to make me aware of these problems and help other vulnerable people through me.”
A Romanian girl, aged 19, told me she ended up injecting heroin because she was sick of being alive
Diana Blaj