Philippa has been a resident at The Meath in The Cottages since 2007. Philippa thrives when she feels busy and purposeful and is always keen to meet and greet visitors and to help people wherever possible.
Philippa has epilepsy, a tremor which has meant that she has suffered some broken bones because of falls and has had a hip replacement. She had heart surgery as a baby and child and will require further heart surgery in the future. She also has learning difficulties and is partially deaf. Philippa’s determination to lead a purposeful and fulfilled life, combined with the support that she receives from her family, the team of staff, volunteers, and her peers at The Meath, mean that her list of medical conditions and disabilities do not hold her back. However, as with all the people we support, only by understanding the height of the barriers that she has climbed, can we appreciate how remarkable Philippa’s determined attitude and sunny disposition is.
Philippa was born in 1981 with Tetralogy of Fallots, a heart disorder which caused deoxygenated blood to circulate around her body. Consequently, she was born small and blue. Inside her tiny heart, her pulmonary valve was very narrow causing pulmonary stenosis, she had an enlarged aorta and a hole in the wall between her lower ventricles.
At 5 months, weighing just 7lb, Philippa had a shunt fitted and then aged 2 ½ had a total correction which required a pig’s heart valve to be fitted in replacement of her own. After a precarious start to life, with much of it spent in hospital, Phillipa’s parents were thrilled to be able to bring up their beloved daughter at home with her sisters.
At the age of 3 Philippa began a short-lived career at her local Nursery School. Sadly, in the 1980s many people were less disability aware and after The Head Teacher put it to Jane that she shouldn’t expect her daughter to be ‘too capable and amount to much’ she took her out of Nursery and set about creating a schedule of toddler and music groups and enlisted some 1:1 support at home which helped her to develop her fine motor skills.
Philippa’s early years were back on track, she became a proudly enrolled Brownie and later a Red Cross Cadet. However, sadly aged 10 she experienced (a second) episode of viral Encephalitis which left her with epilepsy. A happy childhood and progression into teen hood was peppered with injury, pain and surgery following falls. Yet Philippa remained positive, highly motivated, and determined to make the most of the opportunities available to her in life. She became a weekly boarder at St Mary’s Specialist School in Bexhill at 11 years old and then progressed to St Elizabeth’s, Hertfordshire at 16 to attend college where she completed her Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award.
At 15 Philippa fell and broke her right hip (her tremor makes maintaining balance difficult) which left her with a shortened leg and thus being further vulnerable to falls. At 34 she fell and fractured her arm badly and had a plate fitted.
In her mid-twenties she joined The Meath in 2007 and it’s clear to see that she finds it to be a happy home and a community in which she can thrive. “I enjoy things around The Meath. I’m in The Meath Choir at the Skills Centre and Gardening group and I do Art there too. It makes me happy when we all get together for parties or go out on day trips.”
Philippa is currently being supported at The Hive by Kate, Occupational Therapy Assistant, at The Meath’s onsite not-for-profit Café and Social Hub. Philippa takes enormous pride in her role of ‘Hive Helper’ and she supports the smooth running of the busy café by being supported to clean tables, refill the sugar bowls and tidy up the games and books.
Equally typical and impressive, Philippa recognised the role that staff, and volunteers play in enabling her to lead the life she enjoys and took the opportunity to express her gratitude to them. “I’d like to say thank you to all the staff. They really help me, not just at home but also at the Skills Centre, and Occupational Therapy. They support with everything I need and I’m happy”.