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'Cooking is a lifeline for me', says Seacroft Green care home resident

A care home in Seacroft, Leeds has taken person-centered care to new heights to support 55-year-old resident, Eurico Smythe.

Due to a life-changing car accident, Eurico was left paralysed from the waist down and lost the love of his life, Romayne at the same time.

Staff at Seacroft Green, a 76-bed care home which provides care to working age adults as well as residential, nursing and dementia care for older people recognised Eurico’s love of cooking was more than just a hobby.

“When I came to Seacroft Green there were no facilities in place to support my cooking needs.” said Eurico.

Eurico continued, “When I lost my girlfriend in the tragic accident and my freedom to move around freely, I turned to cooking – particularly home comfort food that my mother used to cook.

“Not being able to cook had a very negative impact on my mental health and desire to live on.”

Seacroft Green provides communal kitchens for working age adults to use, however, as Eurico is in a wheelchair the cooking stations and facilities were not fit for purpose.

Upon understanding Eurico’s needs, staff at the care home redesigned an area making the facilities easily accessible for Eurico.

Home manager at Seacroft Green, Adelina Pangilinan said, “Eurico is not only passionate about cooking, which he is really good at - cooking is an essential need and part of his recovery.”

She added, “We redesigned an area of unused shelving units at the home to create sideboards and draws that are lower and easily accessible for Eurico to cook independently.”

Eurico said, “My mother was my main carer after the accident, and she taught me how to cook and shared recipes her mother cooked for her – Portuguese chicken is a really tasty dish which I now love cooking for staff and other residents.

“I am so grateful to the staff at Seacroft Green for making it possible for me to cook again, I can’t thank them enough.”

Seacroft Green care home is close to major supermarkets which Eurico visits regularly with support from staff, to buy the ingredients he now uses to cook the dishes he loves to eat.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Samara Ullmann .