Lawrence & Roy on Living their best Christmas

Manager Ruth Holder of Elmhurst tells us how two brothers got the Christmas they both wished for.

We received an emergency referral for a customer who has a mild learning disability. His brother was his main carer but he had taken poorly and was admitted to hospital. The brothers are already supported by our Learning Disability services and have lived together all their lives. Lawrence came into our care while his brother Roy was in hospital. Lawrence was constantly anxious, asking for his brother and he wanted to return home with his brother as soon as possible. Unfortunately both brothers tested positive for Covid-19 and Roy's health deteriorated whilst in hospital, so Lawrence's stay at Elmhurst was extended.

When Roy got from hospital, he had a further positive Covid-19 test; his health was not back to normal and then the boiler broke! Roy was admitted onto Spurr House's Covid-19 unit for 2 weeks' isolation and the brothers were in contact with each other. Once Roy was able to move onto a normal unit at Spurr House, he was still required to isolate for a further 2 weeks!

At the beginning of December, I thought it would be a great idea if they could both be together at Christmas - if Roy was isolating at Spurr House, why could he not move over to us at Elmhurst and be with his brother? On discussing this with the social worker and with Spurr House, we were able to arrange this, mainly because both brothers were pining for each other.

The day before the move I had a chat with Lawrence and said that I may have a lovely surprise for him, but that he would have to move rooms (this was so Roy could be admitted onto the same unit and they could be next door to each other). Lawrence informed me he loved a surprise! On the morning of the move Lawrence came down to breakfast in his best suit and eagerly awaited his surprise. On wheeling Roy into Elmhurst we had Lawrence sitting at the front reception with his eyes closed. On opening them his brother was in front of him, social distancing of course. All Lawrence kept asking was 'Is he real?', all the staff were so emotional and crying.

Due to the fact that Roy had to isolate, and the love between the two brothers, Lawrence decided to go back into a 2 week isolation so that they could be together during this time. They spent every day in Roy's bedroom in their own bubble and both thrived; they both bought new clothes for Christmas and their isolation ended on Christmas Eve. As a team we have made two brothers very happy.