We first came across the Grey family through the Fisherman's Mission in Lowestoft in May. Mr Grey is an ex- fisherman. Mr and Mrs Grey are in their late 30s and both have serious health issues, both of them were recently employed but because of ill health neither can work at the moment. They have a teenage 18 year old daughter, a 15 year old and another child of 3.

In 1993 Mr Grey was mugged and beaten up, which resulted in a severe dislocation of his left elbow. He has had numerous operations on his arm over the years and this has meant that he has had to give up his career at sea. Despite treatment, bone fragments keep breaking off and the operations are to flush this out. He has very limited use in his left arm. He also has Tenosynovitis in both wrists, caused by work when at sea. As a consequence he is unable to grip anything or support any weight with his arms. He also has other health issues.

Mrs Grey is having investigations into epilepsy. She has been having complex partial seizures which are occurring with more and more frequency over the past 2 years with as many as 3 seizures a day. There is no warning and her whole body goes rigid and she completely loses conscientiousness. She is totally unresponsive and cannot speak or feel anything when having them. Without support she could fall or suffocate. She has had a seizure when crossing the road; she put her hand in a pan of boiling oil on the cooker when making the dinner and burnt her hand very badly but felt no pain until coming round in hospital. She cannot be left on her own, for example on one occasion her husband dragged her out of her bath, saving her life as she had a seizure and was drowning.

To add to this family's strains their 3 year old son has Asperger's Syndrome and ADHD. He has to have 1 to1 supervision all the time. When he was being assessed the child attacked the person doing the assessment, it has now been agreed that he should get more support and help. He is very violent, has broken his mother's nose and knocked his father's teeth out. Both of them find that with their failing health it is very difficult to look after him. This would be impossible without a lot of help from their teenage daughter and their parents.

SAIL 'met' this family and interviewed the parents using Skype. We completed 2 Disability Living Allowance (DLA) forms for the parents. Immediately we were able to get this benefit for Mrs Grey this makes a difference of £3,800 to their income per annum. Unfortunately as Mr Grey has had some issues with the Department for Works and Pensions (DWP) and his medical evidence, he has been refused twice. We are supporting the family and are confident he will get this, he should get the higher rate of £6,500.

The son's condition has deteriorated and the doctors are now investigating epilepsy as he is having similar incidents to his mother - complex partial seizures. SAIL has suggested again that with the right medical evidence the son should also get DLA. SAIL are helping the family with this claim and the minimum he should get is £2,560.

With all the benefits and additions which SAIL have advised upon the family could potentially be better of by £695 per week, a yearly figure of £36,140 extra. The extra support from SAIL and additional money will make a huge difference to the family's lives.