What it's like to have a non- PKU brother...

Although my younger brother doesn’t have PKU like me, we are really no different than any other siblings– we like to wind each other up and argue, yet we make the best team and actually have a really close relationship.

I am so grateful to both my parents and my brother Joel because they have always

tried their very best to make my PKU more manageable for myself - they have never eaten anything in front of me which I couldn’t have to ensure I didn’t feel as if I was missing out. (Although this was their choice, I do feel slightly guilty!) This is something my parents have always done, which they naturally taught Joel to do too. As he has grown up with this from a young age it has become the norm to him and he is of course now very understanding of my PKU.

If you have grown up with a younger sibling, then you will probably already be aware of the phase when they will want to copy everything you do. This was no different for me - when my brother and I were younger he actually loved to eat my low- protein food. Every time my Mum would bake a fresh loaf of Fate bread she would cut off the crust, still warm, for my brother and I to share – this became our routine ‘thing’. I also remember that we both loved to indulge (probably a little too much!) in the low- protein fudge that my Stepdad would make me – I have fond memories of us both sneaking downstairs to the kitchen to snack on it! He has also tried my supplement in the past, but I can’t say that he is much of a fan of that.

I have often wondered what it would be like to have another sibling who has PKU, but in one sense it’s almost like I did have this growing up. I am so glad that I was able to share this small part of my diet with my brother, it just made me feel less ‘strange’ and less alone about it at times, and for that I am truly grateful.