Scottish COVID-19 inquiry|21 May 2024

Emma Barton from Glasgow Disability Alliance.

Testimony not previously covered in my substack. Contains harrowing details.

Introduction

Gemma Barton is giving a statement about her disabled son Arran who is 6 years old. At just 4 weeks old Arran had a cardiac arrest and other complications. A subsequent infection caused a spinal cord injury and the top of his spine did not form properly as a result of this. The spinal cord injury and cardiac arrest have caused lifelong health conditions which have affected his mobility, speech, cognitive function, feeding and every aspect of his life.

NB: No mention of the ‘COVID vaccine’ issues nor mask harms at oral evidence.

‘‘The masks did really freak Arran out. He would just turn away if he saw somebody with a blue surgical mask.’’

-Paragraph 44 of statement

‘‘I didn't get Arran and Ruaridh vaccinated because I was scared about potential side-effects; as I had some symptoms the first time round. It made me feel unwell and I was worried about how the boys were going to be with it. I didn't want to take the chance.’’

-Paragraph 58 of statement

Testimony highlights

• Respite services stopped.

• No physiotherapy for months.

‘‘The cuts to social care support, before during and after the pandemic is alarming.’’

‘‘Things have closed and not restarted..there are so many people basically isolated…things have gone back.’’

Statement highlights

‘‘My mum was voluntary shielding as she was scared having recently had treatment for lung cancer and she also has asthma. It was a good few weeks before we could see her again, probably a couple of months. My mum was really struggling; she was really upset. We did not particularly enjoy it either. She was on her own, and then at that point my brother moved back. She had my brother staying with her, which was good, because then she was not on her own completely. We were quite scared. My thoughts were always, 'But it is my mum. She is on her own, and it was not that long since my dad had passed away.' It was a while, but it was very real for her. We did eventually see her, but then it was garden visits. Trying to navigate that with a four-year-old who was not allowed to go into Nana's house and hug. I think for small kids, it was just terrible. We shielded into the summer; so from March 2020 for at least a few months to around July time.’’

-Paragraph 13

‘‘There was a couple of times I did not get out of the car and just drove back home, because there were a lot of people. I was nervous. I spoke to one of the community nurses and said it was a real struggle, being stuck in the house with two young kids. She said, 'Why are you not going out?' I said, 'because we were told to shield, and I'm terrified to go out.' She said, 'You can go out, go for walks, let the kids run about.' I did not know that. Luckily, we stayed near a park, so we started doing that. That was a big thing, getting out. We tried to keep away from people.’’

-Paragraph 18

‘‘There was a couple of times I did not get out of the car and just drove back home, because there were a lot of people. I was nervous. I spoke to one of the community nurses and said it was a real struggle, being stuck in the house with two young kids. She said, 'Why are you not going out?' I said, 'because we were told to shield, and I'm terrified to go out.' She said, 'You can go out, go for walks, let the kids run about.' I did not know that. Luckily, we stayed near a park, so we started doing that. That was a big thing, getting out. We tried to keep away from people.’’

-Paragraph 19

‘‘I tried to get Arran back into nursery, and I was told no, he is a risk to other children because of the tracheostomy.’’

-Paragrapgh 29

‘‘Arran went through a phase when he saw blue uniforms or blue things, he got quite upset. He really struggled with the face masks including if we wore them ourselves.’’

-Paragraph 35

‘‘The masks did really freak Arran out. He would just turn away if he saw somebody with a blue surgical mask.’’

-Paragraph 44

‘‘Arran is now too big and heavy to be lifted safely however, we are stil l lifting him in and out of the car, around the house and up the stairs as we are still waiting for approval for adaptions to be made to our home…The future's scary. It is very scary.’’

-Paragraph 47

‘‘I spoke to his neurological consultant at the hospital, she said they weren't seeing as many children with complex needs on the wards.’’

-Paragraph 59

‘‘When we were able to get out and about again, people were not respectful of social distancing. It made me quite fearful. It made me wary of where I went. I am still like that. I get stressed getting on the bus if it is busy. I do not like going to busy places. It has had an impact.’’

-Paragraph 62

‘‘COVID has had an impact on my mental health.’’

-Paragraph 63

‘‘I now have a lot of fear and anxiety around getting unwell, germs and being around people. Getting on buses, planes and crowds all really worry me.’’

-Paragraph 72

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