A carer is someone who provides ongoing, unpaid support to people who need help because of disability, mental illness, chronic or terminal illness, dementia or frail age.

Lithgow’s Shirley Dowler has acted her husband Kevin’s fulltime carer since 2006. 

The couple were married in Lithgow in 1956 and after moving around the state with their four children returned to the area in 1996.

They now have nine grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Kevin suffered a heart attack soon after the Dowlers returned to Lithgow.

“He was good after that for a good 10 years and things started to go down hill… until he wasn’t able to do a lot of things for himself,” Shirley said.

Shirley’s transition to being Kevin’s fulltime carer did not prompt huge changes as she, along with plenty of other women in her generation, lived as housewives rather than taking on paid work.

She said her husband has been a good patient and the feeling was mutual.

“You’ve been a good carer,” Kevin said.

Acting as a fulltime carer has not been exhausting for Shirley however Kevin’s condition meant their lives were much more restricted than they had been before.

“When it got a little bit much for me we started to look around for carers to come in and give a hand.”

That helping hand came in the form of HammondCare, who the couple said have made their lives much easier particularly with transport.

“I never ever drove, Kevin had to hand in his license and it’s been marvelous in that way that they can take us shopping, they can take us visiting relatives and they take us just for a drive around,” Shirley said.

“We’re very lucky, very lucky indeed because as I see it now if we didn’t have those things (help from HammondCare)… the time would be coming that I wouldn’t be able to do what I do for him.”

“I’ve got my complaints, like two artificial shoulders that don’t do what they should do,” Shirley said with a chuckle.

The Dowlers are planning to live out their years in their own home with the help of care workers.

“If we didn’t have these people doing these jobs it would probably eventually mean that Kevin would have to shift into care, I’d be stuck in this big place all on my own.”

Aside from helping her and Kevin continue to live together as a married couple, Shirley said the outside help allows her to avoid her most disliked chore.

“I hate cooking,” she said with tongue in cheek.

“I garden, I clean, I do everything. I don’t like cooking.”

You can send a thank you message by visiting carersweek.com.au/make-a-pledge/