Welfare a victim of rules
for help but I am all on my own and I was on the verge of not being able to go on so I could not be more grateful.
“Thank you so much for giving us this opportunity to rest finally after 18 years.”
Lynsay was just 16 when she gave birth to her daughter, who she looks after by herself at their Swansea home.
She had always wanted to be a mother but never anticipated the pressure of bringing up a sick child by herself.
Lynsay said: “They say nothing prepares you for parenthood and that is true. But when I realised Jaiden also had a string of medical conditions, including an extra chromosome which caused brain damage, giving her the mental age of a five year old, I realised life for me really would never be the same again. From the day she was born, she was my life – I was dedicated 24 hours a day to making sure she was okay.”
Lynsay was forced to quit her studies to dedicate her life to Jaiden. But her illness soon began to take its toll.
While still small, she began to suffer massive fits which were soon diagnosed as severe uncontrollable epilepsy.
Lynsay was told a fit could kill Jaiden, so each night before she went to bed she started setting an alarm on the hour every hour to check on her little girl.
For the next 18 years, she mastered the art of living on next to no sleep.
Lynsay said: “I am always so tired, I daydream about being able to sleep a