When Rekha was 16 she had plenty to worry about. What if her grandfather turned on the gas cooker again and left it running? Or he might need the bathroom and get confused about where it was. Or he might try to get out of the front door again and be found at 2 o'clock in the morning talking to the drivers in the taxi rank and thinking he was back 20 years ago.
Also, Rekha's grandmother was wheelchair-bound. Rekha was looking after both grandparents virtually single-handedly. With all there was to do, she wasn't eating properly. And she was falling behind with her college work.
Rekha's grandparents became increasingly reliant on her. 'I was the only one that was really able to handle my grandfather because he would only listen to me. With anybody else he'd get quite aggressive.' Rekha's own health deteriorated under the strain. 'I was getting thinner and thinner. I was missing meals - not on purpose - I just never had time,' Rekha explains.
And her school work suffered. 'I was so tired I was going round in a vicious circle. I was thinking, "Oh, I won't bother going in to school today."' She was thinking about giving up her A-levels. At this point CareFree, a scheme for young carers in Leicester run by Barnardo's, got involved. After speaking to Rekha, a service worker discussed Rekha's situation with the college. It was agreed that the best thing for Rekha to do would be to start her A-levels again the next September, which she did. Two years later Rekha was accepted onto a degree course in psychology at the University of Bristol, which she began last September.