Brighton mum digs up garden by hand for son with muscle condition but still needs help

Kerrie Kemp is currently trying to transform her garden so that her 11-year-old son can enjoy it.

Her son, Kai, was diagnosed with a muscle-wasting condition known as Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which has no known cure, when he was four-years-old.

The Brighton mum says she wants Kai and his siblings to be able to enjoy and use the garden but has struggled to fund the transformation.

“I just want to make the garden safe for Kai to use with his wheelchair, so he doesn’t feel so left out,” she said.

Kerrie raised £300 for the materials needed to transform the hilly garden through an online fundraising page which she set up last year, but she needs £1,500 to finish the job.

“I haven’t had any great responses with the fundraiser I set up,” she said.

“I had to dig the garden myself with my partner to level it out and do the decking.

“I managed to get some from a lovely builders yard and used the money from the Go Fund Me page and a lot of my own money for a spa pool and wood.

“We have bought two gazebos but both have been broken due to the winds and we really need a shelter so Kai can use the spa pool year-round- the pool helps his muscles a lot but Kai can only use it when the weather is hot.”

Council funding has helped Kerrie to adapt the family home for Kai whose condition poses difficulty standing, walking and breathing, but the funding can not be used for the garden.

“The council will fit a floor lift into my home in the next year hopefully and a wet room but they can’t do the garden,” Kerrie said.

Kai would not be the only one benefitting from the new garden - his brother, Mason, has autism and his older sister could benefit from the outdoor space.

“Mason has so much energy and wants to be in the garden playing football, as he loves Brighton and Hove Albion’s men’s and women’s FC,” Kerrie said, “but at the moment it isn’t completely safe as he has no danger awareness.

“Kai also has an older sister that’s finding things hard as there’s so much pressure on her as an older sister with two brothers that have disabilities.

“It would be nice for her to have that space so she can shut off and refresh.”

The family have had to move twice in recent years and Kai and his siblings have moved schools several times.

“As a family we haven’t had it easy,” Kerrie said.

“It’s never easy and I’m still having to chase up services and hospital appointments weekly- It’s a constant battle and we get no respite at all.

“We just want to make Kai’s life the happiest and fulfilled it can be and make memories for all of us.”

The fundraising page for Kai’s garden project can be found here.