A mum whose ordeal left Bradley Walsh in tears says she is “broken” after being stopped from seeing her son on what could be his last birthday.
Sam Adams, who is in the later stages of Huntington’s Disease turned 34 today, but his mum was locked out of his birthday celebrations.
The devastated mum had to drop his presents and cake off at the door – unable to give him a hug or see him face-to-face.
After handing over his presents she left empty handed and heartbroken, sobbing as she walked away.
“It’s wicked and cruel what they are doing,” Ruth Adams told The Mirror.
“This is probably going to be his last birthday and he can’t be with his mum, dad and sister.
“It was a beautiful day. They could have let us go into the garden.
“There’s so many ways they could have facilitated this without any risk and they didn’t and that’s so wrong.”
Before the pandemic Ruth, Sam’s dad, Allan Adams , 75, and daughter Hannah, 31, took it in turns spending six hours a day at the Mulberry House nursing and care home in St Leonards-on-Sea.
Now distraught Sam, confused about why his family vanished during the pandemic, phones them up 50 to 60 times a day.
The mum said her son begs her: "Get me out of here mum. Please get me out of here."
“That absolutely broke me when he said that,” Ruth explained.
The Government has said care home residents in England will be allowed one regular visitor from March 8th.
But retired teacher, Ruth, 67, says this will be at the homes’ discretion and fears this could be too late for her family.
“Sam will not survive the next infection he gets,” Ruth explained.
“Unless something happens soon, I may not even be able to be with him if he dies. I cannot even think about this atrocity.
“I shake and cry, and lose all sense of reality and my own sanity. It petrifies me.
“It’s a primal need to see my son.”
The furious mum from St Leonards-on-sea in East Sussex, yesterday (Sunday) took a life sized poster of Sir Cliff Richard (a family joke because Sam likes Grime), his presents and a birthday cake, to the care home.
But she was told she could only drop his cake off at the door because of lockdown.
The last time she was allowed to hug her son was last October.
“Sam tested positive for Covid in January but was asymptomatic, so he’s immune now. The carer told me on Sunday, that Sam was the last case.
“My husband and daughter have both been vaccinated and I’ve been isolating for a year in the hope of being able to see him. I’m also prepared to take a lateral flow test,” Ruth said.
“But still they won’t let us see him. He will be devastated he can’t be with us.
“They told us they were going to throw him a party but we are not allowed to go and they will WhatsApp us when he blows his candles out. He is not physically capable of doing that!.
“And none of that makes up for not being able to see his family.”
Ruth says not being able to see her son during the pandemic has left her suffering “horrendous nightmares”.
“I am constantly tearful, worn down by his distressed phone calls and I’ve lost over a stone in weight,” she says.
“I feel weak and exhausted and a failure as a mother. I couldn’t fix this...
“I have cried rivers during this Pandemic year, and still they keep on flowing.”
Ruth said Sam was diagnosed with ‘Young Onset Huntington’s Disease’ on 27th of September 2012 and has been in the care home since June 2019.
“When he discovered he had HD, he admitted that he had wanted an ‘answer’ to why he didn’t feel in control of what was happening to him, since he was around 14-15.
“The ‘Answer’ was Huntington’s Disease. Known as ‘The Devil’s Disease,’
“HD encompasses Parkinson’s Disease, Motor Neuron Disease and Alzheimer’s.
“It is a cruel and unforgiving disease which leads to a slow decline in mind and body over about a 20-year period, during which time the sufferer’s body is ravaged and attacked on all fronts.”
His sister, Hannah Adams, a teacher from Brighton, said: “He’s lost his voice during the time he’s been locked away. He’s practically non verbal now.
“We used to do all his mouth exercises with him.
“When we get to speak to him on the phone, we don’t really get to speak to him because he’s making distressed verbal noises.
“He’s my best friend and we’ve always been two peas in a pod.
“It’s robbed us of the chance to make him feel loved and get him to smile again.”
Thornton Mulberry House said in a statement: “In response to the announcement of the first Covid-19 lockdown, Mulberry House had to close its doors to all but essential visitors in March last year.
"The only exceptions to this restriction were to allow loved ones final end-of-life visits and urgent/emergency medical visits..."
Tara Cross, manager at Mulberry House, said: "We have huge sympathy for our residents and their family members.
"It’s a distressing time for everyone, but we are here to help in any way we can.
"The video calls have proved invaluable, especially during the lockdowns when relatives are not able to visit...
"At present, the outbreak is not confirmed as over, and we await guidance from Public Health England to allow us to start permitting face-to-face visiting once again."
