Disabled boy deemed 'too ill' to receive benefits

Sam Fox
Updated



7-year-old Dylan Kirsopp's family is losing essential benefits for the heavily disabled boy because he is apparently too ill.

The young body has cerebral palsy and epilepsy and has to be fed through a drip. His parents, Mandy and John Kirsopp, have been notified that Dylan's disability benefits will be scrapped because he is too ill to qualify. The family will lose Dylan's wheelchair-adapted car and hospital benefits.

A furious Mandy told the Sunday Post:

"It feels like we're being punished because Dylan is too ill."


At birth, Dylan was 23 weeks premature and weighed only one pound. His twin brother Murray is autistic but recovered healthily from the premature birth. Dylan, on the other hand, was diagnosed with intestinal pseudo-obstruction which disables him from eating food.

Mandy was forced to quit her job in customer services in order to care for Dylan round-the-clock. She stays in the hospital with Dylan six days a week. Unfortunately, the Department for Work and Pensions states that if a child is in hospital care for 12 weeks or longer, they will no longer be given a Disability Living Allowance.

Mandy's Carer's Allowance will also be cut because the Department for Work and Pensions insists that the hospital provides Dylan's medical assistance rather than his mother. This leaves Mandy with no stable income while she cares for her son. She said to the Sunday Post:

"I think it's really, really unfair. When you're in the hospital 24 hours a day with your child, you are giving them as much if not more care than you would if you were at home."


Mandy went on to say:

%shareLinks-quote="Yes, the nurses are here to provide a medical service, but they're not the ones who are sitting up all night cuddling him when he's unwell." type="quote" author="Mandy Kirsopp" authordesc="" isquoteoftheday=%

Mandy also changes Dylan's nappies and bed and bathes him. Once the Disability Living Allowance and the Carer's Allowance are scrapped, half of the Kirsopp's income will be lost. They will then rely solely on John's part-time warehouse worker wage.

Mandy says that the loss of benefits will force her family to rely on other people for help. She said:

"It is just going to cripple us. Most of our income will be gone and we will have to rely on the support of other people."


The disability charity Contact a Family is supporting the Kirsopps. Una Summerson of Contact a Family said:

%shareLinks-quote="Most of the children affected by this rule are likely to have severe disabilities or complex health needs and the welfare system should be there for them and their families when they need it most." type="quote" author="Una Summerson" authordesc="" isquoteoftheday=%



Watch this video to learn more about the rising cost of disability beneftis:

Rising Cost of Disability Benefits Making People 'Anxious'
Rising Cost of Disability Benefits Making People 'Anxious'



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