Fatima Whitbread: ‘I was abandoned as a baby, but I’m one of the lucky ones’

‘Having my son was my proudest moment. It was important to me that I break the cycle and be a good parent’: Fatima Whitbread. Photograph: Teri Pengilley/The Observer

I was abandoned as a baby and left to die in our flat. A neighbour heard me crying and called the police, who broke down the door and rescued me. I spent the next 14 years living in institutions, among other traumatised children. Because of the love from my foster family and my passion for sport, I count myself one of the lucky ones.

Not a lot has improved in the care system. Governments come and go, kicking the same tin can down the road. It’s impossible to believe that the sixth largest economy in the world struggles to look after young people suffering through no fault of their own.