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► Welfare real-life stories
Here you will find real-life stories of welfare issues at the RVC...
"I went out to meet a friend in central London and the tubes had closed. I didn’t know which bus I could get and didn’t want to be ripped off by a taxi driver, so I decided to walk back and was completely sober. I was around the corner from Camden campus when I noticed a group of three youths (1 boy and 2 girls) walking towards me. I crossed the road and they crossed behind me. They walked up the road parallel to Royal College Street and as I started walking up Royal College Street they appeared from the housing estate opposite campus. The lad shouted for a lighter and I replied I didn’t smoke, they then crossed the road towards me and asked for a cigarette and I said I don’t smoke. They then ran and grabbed me and said 'give us your money'. They kicked and punched, hit me with a glass bottle, and threatened to stab me and while I tried to fight them off. They eventually got my money, but I kept my phone and called the police. The police caught them and retrieved my wallet and £90 I had in it, and I was taken to A&E for treatment."
-Jon
“At the end of May my boyfriend went out with friends for the first time in a while and was drinking from 6pm to 2am. He came in, locked the door, folded his clothes and went to sleep feeling drunk but not wasted. His parents found him 4 hours later fitting and going into cardiac arrest from choking on his vomit. He was put in a coma and it was thought he was probably brain dead or a vegetable. It took 2 months for him to wake up. At first all he could do was move his eyes in response to questions. Slowly more of him came back, but he was aggressive, abusive, racist, scared and angry but eventually his brain settled and he reached us on planet earth.
He is now in a rehab centre learning to walk and talk again and just trying to get his independent life back. In one evening his entire life was taken away from him, simply because he didn’t count his drinks and thought it would never happen to him. My boyfriend is very lucky to be alive, but he still has to wake up everyday in a strange place and spend his hours being taught how to hold a knife and fork and simply say his name. We think it is still him mentally but until he came speak properly we can’t really know. His family and I still have to wake up everyday wondering if the boy we all loved dearly is going to be able to have the life he once wanted. Please, please, please think about what you are doing when you go out drinking. Every week the NHS deal with people dying from choking on their own vomit. For the sake of another drink is it really worth dabbling with your life or your future? All it takes is one time.”
-Scarlet
Heart problems and heavy base from clubs don't go that well together. Last year a student from UCL unknowingly suffered from a heart problem and collapsed during his first freshers event in Kokos, Camden. Please be safe, if you think you have a heart problem get it checked out; don't risk it.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1216873/Fresher-student-collapses-dies-First-Night-Rest-Your-Life-party.html
"Anorexia nervosa was never about wishing to be slimmer, for me it was about control. It first started with controlling how many sweets I ate, but eventually progressed to skipping meals. Things got worse when it came to A-levels and applying to vet schools as I felt even more out of control. When my Mum noticed I wasn’t eating she made us all sit down to family meals. This was ok at first as when I was out at school I could skip breakfast and lunch easily without any hassle from anyone but during the Easter holidays and after I had received rejections from Cambridge and Bristol I resorted to hiding food where I could and disposing of it later.
By this point I estimate I was surviving on minimal calories a day, my skin had started to deteriorate and I was getting pitifully thin, even fitting into my youngest sister’s clothes but I was really good now at acting as if I was eating enough. Mum was at her wits end and with a huge protest dragged me to the doctors. The doctors were at first confused as to how I was so thin whilst eating 3 meals a day so ordered all sorts of tests and after lots of negative results, Mum voiced her suspicions and the doctors referred me to a counsellor. At first I refused to admit I was ill, this put a lot of strain on life at home, with friends and also my boyfriend, resulting in me losing them. This caused me a lot of heartache as no one seemed to understand that all I wanted was control so eventually I talked; I poured my heart out about everything.
That was my turning point, after I admitted I had a problem, I could now get better. It was hard at first but once I got my acceptance into the RVC I felt that I had to get well enough to ensure I could earn my dream of becoming a vet. I am now quite a few years on from all this now but what I’ve learnt from my experience is to not take life too seriously and that help is always out there when you need it, you just need to be willing to accept it. If you’ve been affected by any of the issues raised by my story there are plenty of places to turn to; http://www.b-eat.co.uk/Home is a website dedicated to helping people beat eating disorders, they even have a helpline where you can talk to someone confidentially who can help advise you."
-Anon
"What was really upsetting about what happened last year was that it isn’t like I’ve not done this before, it’s not like I’ve not lived in a house with other students, paid rent and bills before. To be entirely honest, panic signing a joint tenancy contract for a flat- with no break clause is possibly the most ridiculous thing to do. It doesn’t matter how stressed you are about finding somewhere to live- don’t do it. So for me, when things went wrong, and around exam time too as they tend to do, I was stuck, completely trapped in a legally binding tangle with a flat that I couldn’t live in. A flat that I was paying well over the odds for, complete with gratuitous horrendous flatmate. The landlords were being incredibly unhelpful, and thanks to the very kind help and advice of Fiona Nouri and Alison Tollervey, I managed to get a room in Mary Branker over the exam period. I ended up paying double rent, and paying rent over the summer; both things that I couldn’t afford on top of not actually being able to use the flat. Please, read the contract carefully, get someone who knows about tenancies to read it and please, don’t rush to sign. It will save you a lot of hassle. There will always be somewhere to live."
-Anon
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