Michael's future

Hello, my name is Chanice Morris and I am wishing to raise funds for my 15 year old brother Michael. I am 37 years old and when mum fell pregnant with Michael it was the happiest I had ever seen her, after many miscarriages she was finally blessed with a beautiful boy.

At 6 weeks old Michael and my mum were forced to move in with me as it was not safe for him and mum to remain with his birth father. Michael's real father has never wanted anything to do with him and Michael has never known him.

I took them in and cared for them as any family member would. They eventually managed to get a home of their own and were together happily for a while enjoying holidays and daytrips out.

In 2016, after a long battle with addiction, we lost my father Stephen, suddenly at the age of 52. This hit mum very hard, even though they had divorced a few years prior, they remained the best of friends and Michael looked to Steve as a father. Michael was 6 years old the first time he experienced loss and grief.

In 2018 our grandad ( also called Michael) passed away after battling privately with cancer, again this hit our mum very hard and she fell into depression, turning to alcohol as a comfort. I did not know anything about her drinking until November 2024 as she kept it a secret and Michael never shared this information with me.

Due to her difficulties with alcohol, she fell down the stairs in 2020 and broke her back in several places. Michael became a carer for her at the age of 10 years old, helping her to dress, feed her, and look after the home.

In 2022 mum then lost her sister Karen, this hit her exceptionally hard as the two of them had never seen eye to eye and never had the opportunity to make amends. This made her sink deeper into depression and she again turned to alcohol and medication to escape her emotional and physical pain.

In October 2024, Michael was put onto a Child in Need Plan by the local authority and mum and I made the decision to have Michael stay with myself and my partner and his 15 year old son. This was because mum was not able to properly parent for Michael. He has ADHD and attends an independent specialist school due to his additional SEND needs. He craves routine and needs boundaries and rules in order to be able to function.

Mum reached out to agencies for additional support for her difficulties. However she was on a strong concoction of prescribed pain killers and medicine to treat diabetes, and unfortunately she fell at home and broke her leg very badly. She spent months in hospital with metal framework on her leg, she was eventually discharged back home with carers calling in on her three times per day.

During this time I spent time with Michael trying to explain what was happening and the reasons why. Trying to explain to a 14 year old why his mum wasn't able to look after him was very difficult but he is very mature for his age and he understood that the only way from there on in was to go up. We had several Child in Need meetings with various workers and myself and mum were positive that she was motivated to get herself well, she began to engage with services and get the help she needed.

In December 2024, mum came to spend Christmas with myself and Michael, along with my partner and his 15 year old son. The financial burden was hitting me and my own family very hard as I had to pay for additional gifts and food for Michael. As a result there was tension between my own partner and myself and I ended up having difficulties with my own mental health as a result of the strain and pressure I felt. I managed to get help in time from professionals to enable me to keep going. Mum enjoyed Christmas and explained she wanted to start saving for a holiday, something to look forward to.

Throughout the new year to March this year, I received phone calls everyday from mums carers to say she had fallen again, or relapsed and had been drinking, or was refusing food and drink. Each time I would have to leave work and travel across the county to mums house to check in and make sure she was OK. My concerns started growing and I became fearful for her health and wellbeing. I spoke to her doctors and carers to try and work together to get a plan in place. Mum would say all the right things but in secret she continued to turn to medication and alcohol to numb her pain.

On the 15th of April 2025, it had been 9 years since we lost our dad Steve, and Michael and I lit a candle and prayed and cried together.

On the 16th April I turned 37 and spent my time working as a distraction from my heartache and grief of my dad. I work for SEND services writing EHCPs and the work can be pressured and stressful but is a welcome distraction from my homelife.

On Saturday April 19th, I had a call from mums carer to say she was on the floor, breathing but not responsive. I told the carer to call an ambulance and I'd meet them at hospital. Michael insisted on coming with me to the hospital. I thought this would be similar to the weeks prior where I'd recieved phone call after phone call from the carers and driven to the hospital to make sure mum was okay. She always was okay and it would be her blood sugar going too low or an Infection in her leg or her asthma playing her up, she'd revieve treatment then return home.

On arrival at the hospital, we were ushered into the ED department and walked into a room where mum was hooked upto machines, she had two staff members working on her and was unconscious. The doctors said she may be able to hear us so myself and Michael started to try to speak but no words came out. I just stood there and held his hand. About 4 minutes later, mum went into cardiac arrest and myself and Michael were ushered into the family room whilst doctors and nurses rushed to my mums bedside.We didn't know what was wrong or why and sat waiting for what felt like an eternity. After about 15 minutes the consultant came into the room where Michael and I were to explain to us that our mum had gone Into cardiac arrest but they had managed to intubate her and start her heart again. He explained mum was suffering from diabetic ketoacidosis as a result of not taking her medication for her diabetes, he said she was extremely unwell and would be speaking to the intensive care consultant about next steps. Michael broke down in tears, I had to fight my own pain and upset to be able to physically hold him up and let him know it would be okay and that I had him.

The Intensive care consultant then came to speak to us and explained that mum was very weak and that he did not wish to be so invasive on her already frail body. He asked Michael and I what her quality of life was like and we had to be truthful about the alcohol and lack of engagement with services around her trying to support. We both felt like mum had given up recently and was very depressed and couldn't bring herself out of it. We explained how she was basically bed ridden and needed help for the most basic of tasks such as washing and dressing. The consultant was very clear in that if mum was to survive this, she could end up in a hospital bed for life, and may have brain damage and her quality of life would be further reduced.

Michael and I had to make the heartbreaking decision to allow our mum to die peacefully and with some dignity. We knew in our hearts that mum would never have wanted to live her life in a bed with everyone doing everything for her. She was a proud and independent woman and hated being dependent on others.

The consultant agreed we had made the most kindest decision for mum and we went into her room and they removed the breathing tubes. Michael and I hugged her and kissed her and spoke to her and said please just go be with daddy Steve and be at rest. Michael went home shortly after with my partner as he said he wanted to go home. I stayed with mum and she went peacefully at 4.20pm on the 19th of April.

To say that I am devastated for Michael is an understatement. He has been through so much in only 15 years on this Earth, and now he has lost his mother. Words cannot explain the pain we feel.

Mum left no will, no funds for a funeral, no money in the bank. My partner paid for mums funeral as I simply did not have the means to pay for it despite working full time.

I'd like to try and reach out to people to help me build up some money to ensure that Michael has funds to enable him to build his future. He aspires to go into engineering, and wants to go to college and university. Having some funds behind him would enable him to do this.

Thankyou for taking the time to read our story, any donations are very gratefully received however small. All donations will go into a savings account for Michael to access when he turns 18.

With love and thanks, Chanice.