A day in the life of: Austin Reid
Austin, age 6
Growth condition: Silver-Russell syndrome (SRS)
Typical morning: Struggling to get him to get dressed and eat breakfast before school like any other 6 year old…try to get protein into him if possible. Omelette is the favourite right now.Â
Typical afternoon: After school Austin loves his swimming lessons and also goes to an after school club. He’s very active as a child and always on the go. He loves riding laps around the garden on his bike.
Typical evening: It’s still a battle sometimes to get him to eat his dinner, but afterwards he has his growth hormone injection, before shower and bed. He has just started reading so we take turns in reading for bedtime.
My favourite thing to do is: Sailing, skiing, dancing, bike riding.
My least favourite thing is: Writing, and listening (standard 6 year old challenge!).
The best thing about having SRS is: People underestimate me all the time and then are surprised what I can do! For example skiing for 6 hours a day up and down mountains.
The most challenging thing about having SRS is: Having different length legs and not always being able to wear the shoes I want. Also being too skinny and not having enough muscle.Â
One piece of advice I would give to someone who has this growth condition and/or is a parent carer of a child with this growth condition is: There are good days and bad days but your child will surprise you and will take you on a journey!
One thing I want to share with others about life with a growth condition is: It’s difficult to get adult time away from kids who need daily injections when you have no other family as we can’t ask someone else to do the injections.
