BWC patient Poppy inspires sister Amelie to write a story ‘Super Sis’
Young Poppy, a patient at our Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Forward Thinking Birmingham, has inspired her older sister Amelie to write a book all about challenges the nine-year-old faces.
The book called ‘Super Sis’ is about Poppy who is diagnosed with Autism and ADHD started coming to our Birmingham Children’s hospital in 2014 when she was just three years old and is under the care of our Gastroenterology team for her eating disorder, avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID). As Poppy got older she was also diagnosed with generalised anxiety disorder of which she’s being supported with from our Forward Thinking Birmingham Team.
Gemma said: “We are so proud of her, she wrote this book all on her own to help other families.
“For her to use her lockdown time to create something really positive it was really inspiring, she’s always being someone who wants to help others.”
“We are so lucky that we have both the Children’s Hospital and Forward Thinking Birmingham on our doorstep, they both do amazing things for Poppy and I’m not sure where we would be without them.”
When children face challenges it can be difficult for the whole family to adjust and understand, but poppy’s older sister Amelie takes it all in her stride every day. In March 2020, when the first lockdown hit the UK, Poppy’s family were advised to shield to protect them against COVID-19. When 12-year-old Amelie realised she was now confined to her own home with her mum, dad, two sisters and brother, she spoke to her mum Gemma and explained that she wanted to do something positive with her time at home, she expressed how she wanted to write a book about her sister Poppy.
Mum Gemma sat down with Amelie and asked her what she wanted to write about, the year seven student said she wanted to tell other families and siblings who may have a sister or brother like Poppy that they are not alone and that there are many good things about them too.
After working together to write a mind map of all the things about Poppy she wanted to share, Amelie worked hard on designing each and every page and drew every illustration. She wrote the story including the rhymes featured throughout.
Having asked Amelie how she feels about her book now being shared with others she expressed: “I’m really proud, I’m hoping that it will help people understand how they feel and that they are not alone.
“I love to write and draw and I really wanted to help other children who have brothers or sisters the same as Poppy.
“I want people to understand that Poppy still thrives even with her difficulties and that other children can too.”
You can download Amelie’s story ‘Super Sis’ here: Super sis book.pdf [pdf] 5MB