Glamour model and disability rights campaigner, Katie Price, has opened up about struggling to cope with the care needs of her eldest son, Harvey.
Speaking on British chat show, This Morning, the mother of five shared that she is planning to place the 16-year-old into residential care at his boarding school.
“On Instagram, I only show him when he’s good. But he’s got a side to him. My house is smashed to bits. This year he has broken eight iPads and four TVs. Someone might bang the door and he’ll chuck something,” she told the ITV program.
“Some people think I’m out of order [sending him into care] but people don’t understand the situation.”
A number of people criticised Price’s decision on social media, with some trolls accusing her of wanting to “replace” Harvey following her recent announcement that she would like to adopt an orphan from Nigeria.
But many of those with lived experience of the issue – disability support advocates, for example, and parents of children with high care needs – praised the 40-year-old for being so open about her struggles.
CEO of organisation Sense, Richard Kramer, tweeted, “Many families caring for children with complex disabilities are at breaking point because they lack the support from health and social care services that they need to cope every day.”
The discussion comes in the midst of Price’s campaign to have online abuse toward people with disabilities classed as a hate crime in the UK. If legislation is passed, she has asked it be known as Harvey’s Law.
Top Comments
A very sad article. My heart and best wishes go out to both of them.
I really admire her. In her younger days I bet a lot of people wrote her off as vain and stupid because of her sort of ridiculous public persona, but she is amazingly strong and proves once again that you can’t judge a book by its cover.