“Hospitals are big places with lots of people – but they can make you feel very lonely”
4 mins read
Friday 25 July 2025
Esther-L, lives in north London and is mum to 7-year-old Eva and her sister, Zara, who is 3. Eva has a bowel and heart condition and has spent long periods in hospital, including Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital (GOSH) in central London where she met Jill from Contact’s By Your Side Team. Here Esther shares how at such a stressful time, why it was so reassuring to be able to talk to Jill from Contact:
“Eva is a happy-go-lucky little girl but has been going through it health-wise. Her ongoing heart and other medical conditions mean that she sometimes has to spend lots of time in hospital – usually 2 weeks at a time. But the last time I spent 4 months at GOSH with her, and no one could have prepared us for that. And, to add to the stress, at the same time I was also dismissed from my job, which I had started a few months earlier, as I desperately tried to juggle things at home, work, and hospital. This added to the enormous stress I experienced during this time.
“I said hello, got chatting to Jill from Contact – and never looked back!”
“During this long hospital stay, I spoke to the social work team there who suggested I apply for Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for Eva to help pay for some of my extra costs. My mum, seeing how the stress was getting to me and how upset I was, suggested getting in touch with a charity called Contact, who she had read about, to see if they could help. And then coincidentally, I happened to see Jill from Contact’s By Your Side team setting up a table and putting out loads of leaflets about the support they offer as I was making my way to the hospital canteen. I said hello, got chatting – and never looked back!
“During weekly visits to Contact’s desk at GOSH, they helped me with practical things like filling in the DLA form, which has made an enormous difference to my family. They also pointed me in the direction of the Family Fund to see if there were any grants my family was eligible for. I was able to receive payments to help with things like travelling to hospital and laundry costs as a result. I told Contact’s By Your Side team about losing my job and was encouraged to challenge my employer’s decision. Contact even put us forward to have Eva’s wish granted through their partnership with Make a Wish UK. We spent a few days as a family at Disney UK, and both Eva and Zara loved it. It was such a special time for us because Eva’s medical conditions mean it can be difficult to get away as a family because it takes such a lot of forwarded planning.
“Being a parent with a child in and out of hospital can be scary”
“As well as the practical help Contact’s By Your Side team provides, at such an emotional and worrying time, it’s also just lovely to see a friendly, familiar face. During our 4-month stay at GOSH, it was comforting to know that Contact would be there every Wednesday with information and support – and a smile. That continuity and knowing that Contact was at the hospital every week was reassuring, and I was never made to feel like I was being a burden in any way. Being a parent of a child who is in and out of hospital, often for very long periods, can be scary. As a parent, you go through an emotional rollercoaster, and of course, you don’t want to be upset in front of your child. Hospitals are big buildings with lots of people, but they can make you feel so lonely at times. It would be great if Contact could be at more hospitals so parents there with their seriously ill child feel less alone and stressed and that there is actually someone who understands what they are going through and is there just for them.”
