Marshall 2011

Marshall was 7 when he joined Group 170 in 2011. His older brother Nathan had travelled with us in 2009 and both boys have the same rare, life threatening metabolic disorder which means they need lots of medications, overnight feeding and to watch what they eat during the day. Marshall is a very happy and active little boy and goes to Heathfield School in Fareham. His parents tell us about their experiences of HCPT.

As Nathan had already gone to Lourdes, we were aware of HCPT, although we hadn’t heard of it before that. We were quite nervous to start with, but soon put at ease. Our main concern with Marshall was whether the carers would be able to keep up with him as he is very active!

We had lots of conversations with the team and were very pleased when he was allocated the very energetic Anthony and Fergus the doctor to be his helpers! We were very comfortable with Marshall going after that, due to our previous experience with Nathan. All of his medical and care needs were arranged brilliantly and all questions were answered from all sides!

We were very happy with the number of meetings and home visits we had before they left, but we also know that if more had been needed it wouldn’t have been a problem for the group. The organisation was excellent.

After they left it was lovely to get a text saying they had arrived safely and we were able to enjoy time with our other two boys knowing that Marshall was being well cared for. Marshall especially loved Eddie’s burp talk, the chocolate on the plane, getting Fergus and Anthony wet in the shower, all the parties, playing in the meadow, the peg games and making new friends. The website was very useful and the pictures each day werebrilliant. It was great to see the children having so much fun and I was able to watch the Trust Mass on the internet.

When Marshall got home, he was full of confidence. He was pretty outgoing before the trip, but even more so now! He ate a lot more there than he does at home, and was full of stories about the great time he had. He keeps singing one of the songs, even though he only remembers about 5 words, whilst playing his guitar!

We would definitely recommend to other parents that they accept a trip to Lourdes with HCPT. Ask lots of questions; nothing is too much trouble.