David and Tracey Grigg’s world fell apart when their daughter, Julia, became seriously ill. Tracey gave up work to stay in hospital and care for her.

“It’s like your world’s come to an end,” David said. “We were out doing the work one Sunday and when we came in Julia was flat out on the bed. We rang 999 and they came in ten minutes. She went off with Tracey to hospital then was airlifted to Bristol.”

It was discovered that she had suffered a form of stroke caused by a rare brain problem called an AVM, which forces the blood to effectively pump the wrong way. No one knows why AVMs happen; they are usually congenital but rarely hereditary. Julia was put into an induced coma for 13 days and remained in hospital for three months.

The Griggs farm in Devon, where they have 220 milking cows, 300 followers and 200 sheep. The couple did the majority of the work themselves, but with Tracey in the hospital caring for Julia that left all the work for David. To make the situation worse, their single farm subsidy payment hadn’t come through and they’d also recently discovered TB on the farm.

Tracey said: “I was worried about how David was going to manage all his work and all my work as well. We’d been reliant on friends and family while we’d been away, but obviously that doesn’t last forever.”

Through a chance encounter with regional manager Jenni Green, the couple learned of R.A.B.I and soon got in touch.

David said: “The R.A.B.I funded Lauren, who started working for us as an apprentice to feed the cows and do the things Tracey would have done. The good news is she’s still with us.”

Tracey added: “I would definitely say give R.A.B.I a call because it’s amazing what ways they can help. They stepped in and helped us out in our time of need.”

If you’re struggling financially, give our welfare team a call on 0808 281 9490 to find out how we can help you.