"We sat on the plane and it was a big relief knowing she was safe and being well looked after."
Lynne Veichmanis
Lynne with children Mia and Jack in the garden at Francis House Children's Hospice
Lynne and Simon Veichmanis met fifteen years ago, and had their first child Jack, now 13, when Lynne was nineteen.
Jack has cerebral palsy, but it was after the birth of their daughter five years later, that the lives of the family from Brandlesholme were changed forever.
Mia was born with a life-limiting condition called Jacobsen syndrome. A rare genetic disorder which affects only 1 in 100,000 people and causes delayed development, cognitive and behavioural problems.
During the first few years of the little girl’s life, the family endured prolonged hospital stays.
Mia also has epilepsy and Paris-Trousseau syndrome a blood platelet disorder. A simple cut requires immediate medical attention in A&E with tranexamic acid to stop the bleeding.
Lynne 33, gave up working in the family’s chip shop in Radcliffe to care for her daughter twenty four hours a day seven days a week.
“From the minute she wakes up she’s very vocal and very loud, she lets everyone know she’s around,” said Lynne “Mia is a live wire, and wants her own way all of the time and she gets it!”
When the couple finally married in 2016, a surprise honeymoon was organised by Simon without Lynne’s knowledge.
Only after discovering that Jack was to stay with Lynne’s mum and that Francis House had arranged to care for Mia to enable the newlyweds to enjoy a much needed break, did Lynne agree to fly to Benidorm.
Lynne said: “My mind was at ease because I knew she’d be having a ball here. She’s been coming for short breaks since she was around two years old. The bond she has with the staff is amazing,
“The honeymoon was a precious time for us. Simon and I have never been away just the two of us. We sat on the plane and it was a big relief knowing she was safe and being well looked after.”
Lynne cannot praise the care and support provided by Francis House highly enough and has even helped to refer two neighbouring families from Bury who both now come for respite care at the hospice.
“It’s easy driving here, and at the end of the day even if it took me hours to get here it wouldn’t bother me because seeing her so happy makes it all worthwhile,
“Mia loves coming here, when we turn at the traffic lights she is so excited and she starts laughing louder and louder. They take her to the farm and bowling alley and she loves the garden.”
Husband Simon 39, runs Jack’s Chippy in Radcliffe, where he works six days a week, from six in the morning until half past nine at night.
“For those seven days on honeymoon we had quality time together all because Francis House could do that for us.”
Francis House is a lifeline to the families of more than 460 children and young adults with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions from across Greater Manchester including Stockport, Oldham, Bury, Rochdale, Manchester, Salford and Trafford.
