Harrogate unpaid carer shares story of anxiety during pandemic
Nick Hayhurst says caring for his mum, during the pandemic, caused his mental health to deteriorate.
A man from Harrogate has told us how his mental health deteriorated rapidly when he found out his mum needed round the clock care.
Nick Hayhurst’s sharing his story as part of Carers Week.
It comes as charities are warning many unpaid carers have fallen under the radar during the pandemic.
Coronavirus caused many respite facilities to close their doors or reduce their services, having a huge impact on those making enormous sacrifices to keep their loved ones safe.
"I just burst into tears with joy"
Nick says he "felt lost" as the first lockdown started, then discovered the Carers' Resource charity in Harrogate: "Just the weight off my shoulders was huge.
"The relief the day that we found out that we were getting all the support we were getting, I just burst into tears with joy.
"It was awesome. I was sat at work and I was like, 'everything's come together in one day,' and literally the two week period of my life was turned back around.
"I didn't feel alone anymore. Even though I had mum, I felt completely and utterly useless because I couldn't do anything other than cleaning, tidying, all of that stuff.
"Everything that you would normally take for granted, stuff that you can do so simply and so easily, was made immediately difficult though this pandemic.
"I was kind of left in the dark. Mum can't work, and I was the only one bringing money into the house. It was difficult."
Carers seeking advice and support can find out more from Carers' Resource, who work across Bradford and Airedale, Harrogate and Ripon, and Craven, on their website: https://www.carersresource.org/