While most of us spend the festive season unwrapping goods and high-tech toys, an Aberdeen family has enjoyed the precious gift of time together during a short stay at Rachel House in Kinross.
The McNay family spent several days at the children’s hospice to get a welcome break along with support in looking after their youngest daughter, 21-month-old Morvin.
The toddler suffers from Dravet Syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy that appears during the first year of life and results in poor development of language and motor skills, as well as hyperactivity.
Because of her condition, Morvin is highly dependent on her mother and father, Rowan and David, meaning they find it difficult to spend time together as a family, along with oldest daughter Eloise (3).
David said, “To be honest we haven’t been doing very much apart from relaxing. It’s good to get away from running about between the house and the hospital, so this has been a welcome break.
“It can be hard for us to get any family time because of going back and forth with Morvin, so we decided to come here for a few days.”
During their stay the McNays joined in a number of activities, including a visit from Santa Claus and Peter Pan.
Youngsters were invited to help decorate banners featuring characters from the tales of Neverland, something Eloise took great delight in joining in with.
“She was quite happy to help colour in Peter Pan,” added David. “She is mad about princesses and fairies and absolutely loves Tinkerbell, so she really enjoyed being involved with that.”
This is the family’s second visit to Rachel House as they were first told about it when Morvin was born and spent some time at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh.
David told The Courier that they hope to continue taking advantage of the support available as the toddler gets older and needs more support in a bid to keep their family life more balanced.
He added, “In the future we will need more of a break from looking after Morvin to spend more time with Eloise, because we rarely get to focus entirely on her.
“It’s difficult to do when all your attention’s on one child so it’s good to get this extra help now and again.
“It isn’t too bad when they’re little, but as they get older they will start to notice the difference more.”