Family’s joy as Jai is home for Christmas Day

It was the day a Borders family had hoped and prayed for over six long years.
Jay, Sharon, Jai, mum Lorraine, staff nurse Zhenya Matyunina, healthcare support worker Alanna Galloway, and nephew Jayden. (PHOTO:BILL McBURNIE)Jay, Sharon, Jai, mum Lorraine, staff nurse Zhenya Matyunina, healthcare support worker Alanna Galloway, and nephew Jayden. (PHOTO:BILL McBURNIE)
Jay, Sharon, Jai, mum Lorraine, staff nurse Zhenya Matyunina, healthcare support worker Alanna Galloway, and nephew Jayden. (PHOTO:BILL McBURNIE)

Members of the Sharkey family have been on a long journey but on Tuesday, December 1, they fulfilled a pledge to move their son, brother, father and uncle Jai into his own home in Hawick.

Following a protracted legal battle, they gathered at his two-bedroom flat in Stonefield Place to witness the 41-year-old father-of-two smiling and happy as he crossed the threshold in his wheelchair.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

It was a journey that had started in November 2014 when a suicide attempt left Jai with a severe brain injury and spasticity.

Since that time his devoted family has fought to ensure that he was able to live independently with support and not spend the rest of his life in a care home.

They have endured setbacks along the way but there was joy last month at an interim judicial review in Edinburgh when Scottish Borders Council changed its view that Jai should be moved into Drummond Grange care home at Lasswade and could instead move, at least temporarily, into his own property in Hawick.

That is not the end of the story as the council’s long-term view is that Jai’s needs are better served in a care setting.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But last month’s decision was a huge relief for his brother Jay, 45, who took his brother into his own home in Primrose Bank in Galashiels from Hawick Community Hospital in March, amid concerns he could contract Covid-19.

The family, including Jai’s mum Lorraine, has always maintained he was far too young to live the rest of his life in care.

Jay said: “Everything went pretty much perfectly with the move and I think Jai was really happy. I think he understood what was happening and he was taking everything in.

“We’re all relieved and overwhelmed. It was strange coming back to my home and Jai not being there.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“This was a journey which started on the 17th of November 2014. We have always wanted him to live independently, but the council say his needs are best-met in a care home so now we have to engage in self-directive support and get an amount for a package that is suitable in the community for him.

“Jai now has to prove himself that it is best for him and stay fit and healthy and whichever care company that comes in needs to show that he can be supported and that they can support him.”

Jay, whose wife Sharon and 14-year-old son had basically given up their home to allow carers 24 hour access to Jai, added: “It was a bit emotional when I came back to my home last night and not hearing him and not speaking to him. Now I will be able to pop along to his hoose for a cup of tea.

“Jai can now look forward to Christmas in his own home. He can have his own tree and decorations.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“It’s not the end of the battle. The first stage was stopping him moving into a care home, stage two was getting his own home and the third is to make that move permanent.”

Jay, a safe-guarding officer at Heriot-Watt University, added: “2020 has been a terrible year, but it has also been a godsend because it has enabled us to get Jai out of hospital and able to live in his own tenancy, without all of this happening I think he would still be in Hawick Community Hospital, where he was when he came live with me in March.”