Shaken by a family crisis, Kirrilee and her parents realised they needed to make changes—fast. Fortunately, they were prepared for the moment and got some help along the way. Here’s their story.
Part I: A Family Crisis
On a sleepy Saturday morning in September 2025, Kirrilee Westblade’s phone rang.
It was her Mum, Diane.
‘What are you doing right now?’ Diane asked.
‘Why?’ Kirrilee responded.
‘I need you to take me to the hospital…I think I’m having a heart attack.’
It’s a call no one should have to receive, especially from a parent. But that morning, Kirrilee found herself in a surreal situation.
She rushed her Mum to the hospital—thankfully, Diane was not having a heart attack. But Kirrilee still felt confused. Why hadn’t her Mum called an ambulance?
The answer was simple: She couldn’t leave Kirrilee’s Dad, Laurie, alone.
Diane had been Laurie’s primary caregiver for more than a year at that point. In 2024, while the couple was on holiday, Laurie suffered a stroke that left him with severe cognitive impairment. Diane was instantly thrust into a full-time caring role, and courageously, she faced the crisis head-on—until that Saturday morning, when she was ambushed by a potential health crisis of her own.
‘It’s made life very different,’ Kirrilee says now of her Dad’s stroke. ‘That experience [with our Mum] made my sisters and me realise how much stress and pressure she was under as Dad’s primary caregiver.’
Diane was struggling with caregiver burnout, which quietly impacts many unpaid carers across Australia. The symptoms of burnout aren’t always obvious, and in Diane’s case, they weren’t apparent at all.
‘She was doing a great job [as Dad’s caregiver],’ Kirrilee says. ‘She seemed fine, and she was really stoic.’
Though Diane didn’t have a heart attack that day, doctors still admitted her to the hospital, and Kirrilee filled in as her Dad’s carer. She experienced first-hand how much responsibility her Mum had, and by Monday morning, she was on the phone with My Aged Care updating them about the urgency of their situation.
‘I told them, “We are in a crisis and need help right now,”’ Kirrilee recalls.
Laurie was approved for a Level 4 Home Care Package in April, and like thousands of other home care applicants, he was stuck on the wait list and at the mercy of a sluggish system. To Kirrilee’s surprise, though, her desperate phone call worked—My Aged Care pushed Laurie’s package through, and suddenly, they needed a home care provider.
Part II: A Helping Hand
It all happened within a few days: Diane’s health scare, Kirrilee’s phone call to My Aged Care, and the long-awaited approval of Laurie’s Home Care Package.
Fortunately, Kirrilee and her family were prepared for the moment.
‘At that point in time, had we not had everything set up like we did, I don’t know what we would have done,’ she says.
A teacher with two teenage children, Kirrilee already juggles a full schedule, and her sisters are very busy, too. Becoming their Dad’s primary carers for any length of time simply wasn’t feasible.
On top of that, Kirrilee also looks after her disabled brother-in-law and manages his funding through the National Disability Insurance Scheme—a noble undertaking that proved to be an unexpected advantage when she began helping her parents. Kirrilee’s experience navigating government systems and collaborating with support organisations meant that when it was time to secure services for her Dad, she knew exactly what to do.
‘I wanted to be very conscientious and not hand Dad’s package over to a provider to let it get eaten up,’ she says. ‘I like to know what’s going on.’
Kirrilee decided self-managing her Dad’s services was the best option, but she still needed to choose a provider. She’d been receiving guidance from an Aged Care Support Center in her hometown of Echuca called U Choose. One of the organisation’s Aged Care Coordinators, Kym Packer, strongly recommended Kirrilee consider The CareSide.
‘Kym uses The CareSide for her Mum and aunt,’ Kirrilee explains, ‘and she told me, “You need to give them a ring because they will help you.”’
And that’s what Kirrilee did.
The CareSide team sprang into action and began setting up Laurie’s services.
‘It was such a relief because I work full-time, I was looking out for Dad, and I just had someone doing the work for me at The CareSide,’ Kirrilee recalls. ‘They set it all up and told me, “Don’t worry, it’ll be okay…” I’m super grateful for that because we needed it right away—we needed it to work.’
Laurie’s Care Manager at The CareSide, Ahmed, made a strong first impression. He told Kirrilee that her Dad was eligible for additional funding and services due to his cognitive impairments.
‘It was great having someone oversee that for us,’ Kirrilee says now with a smile. ‘I don’t know what I don’t know until someone tells me about it.’
Part III: A New Dynamic
In his prime, Laurie was a local legend: an incredible footballer and, later, a decorated coach.
Then, as a father and grandfather, he did everything he could for his family at the drop of a hat, whether it was picking Kirrilee’s kids up from school or prepping her veggie garden for another season.
‘He used to be my go-to,’ Kirrilee says, ‘and it’s really sad because he just can’t do it anymore.’
Laurie’s stroke in 2024 and the subsequent shift in family dynamics came with some difficult lessons, especially for Kirrilee and her sisters. They learned how essential support is—not only for their Dad, but for their Mum as well.
‘For carers, one of the most important things is that they get time to still be true to themselves,’ Kirrilee says while reflecting on her family’s journey. ‘They need opportunities to do things other than just care for their beloved person.’
While Laurie was on the wait list for a Home Care Package, he and Diane received limited support through the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP), including three hours of respite care every fortnight. Now, though, Diane can access 10–12 hours of respite per week through Laurie’s package, enabling her to return to her favourite hobbies: gardening, golfing, exercising, and seeing her friends.
Laurie’s Home Care Package has also empowered the couple to leverage domestic services (such as house cleaning), gardening, and reliable companion care.
‘It’s beautiful because the same person comes every time,’ Kirrilee explains, ‘and that’s really important because Dad won’t remember who she is otherwise.’
Several times per week, Laurie’s caregiver, Ann, arrives at the house and looks after him. They attend exercise programs, enjoy walks along the river, visit coffee shops, and do cognitive activities together.
‘She’s got the most beautiful heart,’ Kirrilee says of Ann. ‘She’s just lovely.’
And though she has much more time to take care of herself now, Diane is still quite involved with Laurie’s care. Recently, Kirrilee showed her Mum The CareSide’s client portal, which keeps all the details related to Laurie’s self-managed plan in one place.
‘She was very happy because she could actually see everything,’ Kirrilee notes while praising the portal’s ease of use. ‘I like the “Contact Care Manager” feature, and it’s so easy for me to send invoices off. I just log in, have a quick look, and log out.’
Indeed, the entire family feels properly supported now—all of the pieces fell into place right in time. Kirrilee does not take that for granted. She recognises how fortunate they are, and she is especially sympathetic toward Australians who struggle to navigate the complex aged care system.
She’s now making it a point to advocate for all the people still suffering in silence.
‘[Getting help] is bloody hard work,’ she says. ‘But I want to say to them: “You have to reach out and ask. Reach out and ask, and someone will be there for you like they were for me.”’
