Carol, C l nominated by Kelly, is the Barnardos Mother of the Year.
When Kelly’s mum died, her sister-in-law Carol opened her arms and her home writes NATALEE FUHRMANN
For as long as she can remember, Kelly Haywood has felt loved, nurtured and protected by Carol Edmunds.
So when she spotted a TV commercial calling for nominations for the Barnardos Mother of the Year Awards, it seemed a no brainer for 38-year-old Kelly to put forward the woman to whom she owes so much.
Tasmania-based Carol is the wife of Kelly’s half-brother – but heartbreaking circumstances led her to take on the role of Kelly’s mother in the mid-1980s. Now, 30 years later, she’s been crowned the 2017 Barnardos Australian Mother of the Year.
“Our situation is unique and we are extremely flattered that our story stood out amongst all the others,” beams Kelly, a Lieutenant Commander in the Australian Navy.
“I was eight years old when my mum died, but Carol, who was only 23 then, opened her home immediately and loved me unconditionally. She believed in me at times when I didn’t believe in myself, and she encouraged me to be whoever and whatever I wanted to be.”
For Carol, it was an easy decision. “Kelly was family and it was important for me to keep her,” says the 53-year-old, an administrative assistant in her husband Wayne’s financial services business.
“Every child deserves a loving home and, within a day of her mum passing, I didn’t have to even think about it, she was coming to live with us.”
Kelly was in primary school when she found herself a virtual orphan. Her mother had just committed suicide and her father was losing his battle with alcohol.
“I have wondered many times over the years how my life would have turned out if Carol and my half-brother Wayne hadn’t taken me in,” says Kelly, who won the national Telstra Young Business Woman award in 2013, for saving the federal government millions of dollars on an international naval contract.
With only 15 years between the two, Carol admits she struggled at times to guide Kelly.
“I felt my way through it,” she says. “There’s no handbook when you find yourself in a situation like this, so I just raised her like I was raised.”
Last year, Kelly gave birth to her first child and Carol was with her every step of the way. “Having Carol with me in the birthing suite meant I didn’t miss out on having a mum there,” Kelly says. “During the delivery, she whispered in my ear, ‘Your mum is here with you.’”
Like many previous Barnardos Mother of the Year winners, Carol, who is also mum to sons Kurt, 28, and Sam, 24, is modest about the job she’s done.
“All I’ve tried to do for Kelly and my boys is love them, care for them, listen to everything they say, without necessarily agreeing with everything they say, and hope they take away a little guidance.”
‘She believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself’