‘My son’s having seizures due to the heatwaves – mothers like me are terrified’

A mother whose son suffered two seizures during the heatwave has called on new prime minister Andy Burnham to protect the country’s children from the climate crisis.

Becky Ward, 42, from Essex, said: Independent He lost sleep trying to keep his two children, Alex (11) and Levy (8), calm. She is a full-time caregiver for her youngest child, who has epilepsy and cerebral palsy and whose body has trouble regulating temperature.

“His body is really struggling with this and as a result he had two seizures at night during the big heatwave,” she said. “The biggest thing for me is that I have to constantly wake up throughout the night to check body temperature.”

Ms Ward, co-founder of the Mothers Rising climate change movement, is a Petition signed by thousands of parents Paloma Faith is urging Mr Burnham to meet and listen to parents concerned about the record-breaking temperatures of recent heatwaves.

“Mothers are scared,” Ms Ward said. “I’m really worried about this [warming] “It’s happening faster than climate scientists predicted, and heatwaves are more intense than ever.”

The UK is currently in the middle of its third heatwave of the year. Temperatures have exceeded 30C in some parts of the country for 12 consecutive days since the beginning of July, after the UK recorded its hottest June on record. Public infrastructure struggled in the heat and rare red weather warnings were put in place.

Seeking desperate measures to cool her 1960s-built home, Mrs Ward bought a portable air conditioning unit for her son’s room for £325 to stabilize his temperature throughout the night.

“The problem was it didn’t work. It didn’t cool the room. It wasn’t powerful enough,” he said. “It feels like I haven’t slept in months.”

The petition calls on Mr Burnham to adapt homes, schools and public infrastructure in line with recommendations in the Committee on Climate Change’s Well Adapted UK report, invest more in affordable and renewable energy and oppose new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea.

Labor MPs, including Mr Burnham, face growing pressure from the energy industry to increase North Sea oil production after Energy Secretary Ed Miliband remained wary of new drilling.

Climate experts have backed Mothers Rise Up’s community efforts and called on the government to do more to support parents and young children as the climate crisis becomes even more severe.

Ms. Ward told Independent Mothers Rising has seen hundreds of new members since the last two heatwaves, with the campaign group reaching more than 500 members. As part of their campaign for change, they plan to hand-deliver and post personalized, heartfelt letters to 10 Downing Street at the end of August.

“[Mr Burnham] Of course, we cannot ignore the hundreds of letters from mothers who say that we are very scared and terrified for our children. For their current impact and their future.”

Independent She read the letters, which will soon be sent to No. 10 Downing Street, and dozens of statements from mothers who are part of the movement, detailing how powerless they feel in the fight against climate change.

Alexandra, 37, from Manchester, admitted her 10-month-old daughter’s room reached 31°C at the height of the latest heatwave.

“I was breastfeeding him in the middle of the night and I burst into tears because I was afraid for the future as we were both sweating from the heat, his cheeks turned red and stuck like glue.”

The letter from mother-of-two Leah Cooper read: “I’m trying to put on a brave face for my two children, but I’m so worried about their future.”

Professor Mark Pelling, from University College London’s Department of Risk and Disaster Reduction, said tackling rising temperatures required government and local authority collaboration through grassroots efforts such as Mothers Rise.

“It really needs to be locally driven,” he said. “In Burnham’s language, this could be part of some kind of localization mission.

“Local moms and local governments are coming together to figure out how we can adapt to heat in our local schools and in our homes. If you want to put it on a positive note, it really seems possible for Andy Burnham to use climate change adaptation to solve a lot of thorny issues like housing justice and locality.”

Mel Evans, Greenpeace UK’s climate chief, called on Mr Burnham to listen to Mothers Rise Up as climate change concerns worsen.

“Today’s children are already at risk from floods, heatwaves and wildfires, and if we continue to burn fossil fuels at the current rate, our children will face decades of worsening temperatures, droughts and floods,” he said.

“As a parent, I really hope that Andy Burnham will listen to Mothers Rise Up and consider the government’s own appointed experts on how we can help our communities adapt to extreme weather and stop the climate emergency from worsening. To protect our children from the frightening future that threatens them, we need our leaders to stop fossil fuel companies pouring fuel on the fire.”

A government spokesman said: “This government is committed to strengthening our approach to climate adaptation and increasing our resilience to a changing climate.”

“We are already taking action to help protect people, livelihoods and our natural environment by investing in clean energy, ensuring new residential buildings are designed to minimize unwanted heat from the sun and launching the Local Government Climate Service, which gives local authorities easy access to tailored information to support adaptation planning.

“In extreme heat people should pay attention to the latest warnings and guidance issued by the UKHSA for their area.”

Independent Andy Burnham has been approached for comment.