Nine-year-old Bertie’s creative lockdown escape
ANINE-YEAR-OLD from Southport has proven that he can go above and beyond despite spending the entire pandemic shielding.
Bertie Kay was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy when he was just two after he struggled to meet physical milestones when he was a baby.
Bertie has spent his life trying to keep up with the physical demands of other children his age, and lockdown was a big blow as he was forced to shield with his mum Alison, 48, dad Matt, 49, and siblings Emmeline, 12, and Archie, 15.
Alison said: “Over the years he has made up for what he has lacked in muscle and strength by being as entertaining as possible to other people to keep the interest with other people like his friends at school because, of course, children run off and he couldn’t keep up with people.
“He has developed this bubbly personality to compensate for that. During the successive lockdowns it was a really, really difficult time for him because he wasn’t in school because he was shielding. Then there was a lot of remote learning anyway, he wasn’t able to see his friends, he wasn’t able to go to any clubs. It was quite an isolating time.
“The other issue we had was that he wanted to find out more about singing and drama. I must have contacted about 10 different clubs and no-one was interested.
“They either wouldn’t reply or they would say that the venue wasn’t accessible or that they wouldn’t know how he would take part in a physical class. It was difficult to develop that side of him, the creative and bubbly side that felt quite natural to him.”
That is where the The Muscle Help Foundation came in. Alison found an online event they were hosting and applied on the day of the deadline.
The foundation looks at delivering highly personalised, transformational experiences in the UK for children and young adults with the muscle-wasting condition.
Bertie has since become heavily involved with the charity after Alison signed up to an online wish fulfilment session.
Alison, who is director of engagement and advocacy at Same but Different, said: “I think I saw it on Twitter that there was this singing event that a charity was putting on. We hadn’t done anything with the charity before, this was the Muscle Help Foundation. It was the last day to apply so I just dropped everything and filled in this application form for Bertie to take part in this singing workshop where they would beatbox and do all these practical singing exercises.
“At this point Bertie was very isolated and we tried to keep him entertained but he seemed to be losing confidence in himself. He was accepted and we were excited but these online things rarely live up to expectation. The event went ahead and it was absolutely amazing.”
The Muscle Help Foundation recently did a study in conjunction with the University of Hertfordshire showing 70% of people had increased confidence after a session as well as 76% had increased self-esteem, 73% felt empowered to achieve life goals and 66% started new hobbies.
The study used data from 82 individual wish-fulfilment experiences delivered by The Muscle Help Foundation, covering a six-year period, with Bertie being one example of the help that the charity brings.
Bertie has benefited from the creative side of his personality, with Alison saying he has gone beyond “physical limitations”.
Alison said: “He really loves to entertain people, but he also really loves to immerse himself in stories. I think it has really helped him. He has been able to go beyond himself and beyond his own physical limitations through his imagination.”