A Clonmel mother has been named Tipperary Family Carer of the Year.
Rachel Reid and her husband Valentin became carers to their son Graysen when he was born with cerebral palsy, in addition to other medical conditions, at the start of Covid.
She says they got thrown into this world over night, and while it can be challenging, Graysen is the ‘happiest child’ and they are just grateful to have him.
Rachel received a number of nominations for her work online whereby she reaches out to other parent carers to show they are not alone.
Speaking to Tipp FM she highlighted the need for inclusivity for children like Graysen:
“You just have to encourage other kids, like my friends kids and everybody to include him and everything is about inclusion.
“Graysen is one of the towns ‘Little Blue Heroes’ and even those things include him and he’s always down the town and he’s always out and about and people know him now and it’s lovely to see that.
“People will come up to him and talk to him and he will smile at you and it’s not something to shy away from and he loves interaction and loves playing.”
