Meet Maxine and Kai

Maxine was referred to Haven House when she was at a real low point. At the time she had no outside family support and was bringing up two young children in her dad’s loft. That’s hard for any lone parent – especially if one child is seriously unwell.

Maxine’s son, Kai, has cerebral palsy and spastic quadriplegia. He cannot walk or mobilise independently and uses a wheelchair. Kai also has epilepsy, resulting in multiple daily seizures and cortical visual impairment, meaning he is blind.

Read more of Kai's story here.

Meet Haider and Ruksana

Haider is a 13 year-old boy with mitochondrial disease. He is a familiar sight at Richard House, where he has been coming for over 10 years. Here his mother, Ruksana, tells the story of their family and their close relationship with Richard House.

Ruksana explains how, despite years of symptoms, it took almost 13 years to have a partial diagnosis for Haider: 'We got the confirmation last year that it could be mitochondrial. Even now, there is still a slight question mark over his condition. They know it’s genetic. They are still investigating at Great Ormond Street Hospital. When Haider was born everything looked fine until he was 9 months. That was the moment when it kicked off. He was having seizures. I thought they were spasms, but they were actually seizures.'

Read more of Haider's story here.