‘I found respite very difficult ... I felt so guilty about it and so worried about entrusting my child with a stranger’

Rosemary and Siegi Kratschmar have four grown-up children. Sammy, the youngest, is 23 years old. He has Down’s syndrome, hearing loss, epilepsy, sleep apnoea and ADD and his mother is his full-time carer. Rosemary – whose three daughters are Zoe, Zara and Steph – adores her only boy, but says being a carer is hard work and the stress of paying for everything that Sammy’s needs zaps the energy of the whole family