In 2017, Gary’s wife Natasha was diagnosed with a spinal cord tumour. Although she underwent surgery to remove it, she was left with a serious spinal cord injury, and Gary became her full-time carer.
Natasha’s injury severely limits her mobility, so Gary helps her with tasks like dressing, bathing, and cooking, as well as taking her to medical appointments. He estimates that he provides more than sixty hours of care for his wife each week.
“Becoming a carer affected my financial situation immensely”, said Gary.
Before Natasha’s surgery, both Gary and his wife worked full-time, but their household income quickly fell to zero. While Natasha was declared unfit for work, Gary had to quit his job to care for his wife.
With no safeguards in place to cover existing loans, Gary had to reach out to debt management services. He was forced to borrow money from friends and family to cover bills, and, for a while, he had to rely on local food banks. He also had to support his three teenage children who were living at home.
“I’ve worked since the age of thirteen; I’ve never been out of work,” said Gary. “I didn’t know what to do or where to go for help”.
The lack of support and information had serious consequences. After Gary’s parents passed away, Gary used his inheritance to pay for adaptations on their car, but later discovered that Motability Allowance would have covered it.
Other costs were unavoidable. Gary also had to use his inheritance to buy Natasha a rollator – a cradled seat to support her – and a mobility scooter.
Gary now receives Carer’s Allowance, alongside the carer’s element of Universal Credit. However, this isn’t always enough to get by - particularly due to the cost-of-living crisis.
“It’s very difficult to cut down on heating and electricity bills”, explained Gary. “Due to her injury, Natasha can’t regulate her body temperature very well. She gets pains in her legs if she’s too cold and burning sensations if she’s too hot”.
To cope with these additional financial pressures, Gary has taken out a loan and started part-time taxi driving – even though this means leaving Natasha at home on her own.
“It’s easier having those extra pounds”, said Gary. “But I can’t earn too much, or it will affect my benefits”. He added that not every carer has the option to go out to work.
“We’re just about getting by at the moment, but there have been times when we were really struggling.”
To help him and other carers to support themselves financially, Gary suggests that the Government should increase the limit on what carers can earn.
However, he added that “not all carers have the option to go out to work”, which is why the Government must also review the level of Carer’s Allowance.
“Even looking at carers and mentioning them in government budgets would help. We save the country a lot of money... without being mentioned, you feel forgotten about.”
Gary and Natasha
