‘If I was a single parent I would definitely be in a very dark place’
Mum’s sympathy for tragic Martina and her daughter
Rachel Flevill is a dedicated and loving mum to her four children. But the tragic case this week of a mother and her eight-year-old daughter being found dead in Salford struck a chord.
Martina Karos, 40, and her severely disabled eight-year-old child, Eleni Edwards, were discovered at their home in South Radford Street, Kersal on Monday. The case is being treated as suspected murder-suicide and one line of inquiry is that they were overcome by fumes.
Rachel lives in the same city and she too has a non-verbal disabled child. However unlike Martina, who lived just with Eleni, she has three other children and ‘a rock’ of a partner, her husband Adam.
Friends of Martina have said she was ‘struggling’ and have questioned if she was being given adequate support. This resonated with Rachel.
Her son, Zach Tahir is 17, autistic, has learning difficulties, and the eating disorder, pica, a craving to eat things which are not edible. For more than a year she has been asking Salford council to provide one night a month respite care for Zach. But she has been turned down four times.
Rachel Flevill with her son Zach(Image: Manchester Evening News)
Rachel, 43, from Weaste, said: “When I read about that poor woman and her child who died in Salford I wondered if she too had been trying to get more respite.”
Rachel also has a 15-year-old girl, six-year-old boy, and a two-year-old girl. “It is constant stress. But I am very lucky in that the support I get from my husband is amazing and I am the kind of person that if someone says no to me I will keep on fighting for what I think is right.
“If I did not have my husband I would hate to think mentally where I would be. If I was a single parent I would definitely be in a very dark place. Martina’s case has really hit a chord with me, because I was a single parent once. I wished I could have helped her.”
Rachel added: “I have had many social workers over the years. You see one and then the next time it is someone different. I did go through a period of time without being able to get a social worker. But then it became more difficult and I said I needed more support.
“I finally did get a social worker and she has worked her hardest on our behalf. She has taken our request for respite care to a council panel four times and we have been refused and told we just attend local groups (for disabled people) in the area. I have said going to groups is no good.
“Now this panel has not sat for months. I asked if there was not an emergency panel for people who are absolutely desperate to have some respite care for their child. I was told there was no such thing.
Rachel Flevill has spoken out about the challenges faced by the parents of children with complex needs following a tragic discovery in Salford(Image: Manchester Evening News)
“I believe it was meant to start last week and once again did not go ahead. I understand it may possibly have something to do with staffing issues. I can never get to the root of the problem. I feel sorry for my social worker as I am hammering her and she is saying we have no panel I cannot do anything.
“The panel won’t see parents, the social worker has to make your case. Mine has been before the panel four times and knocked back each time.