A Co Fermanagh mum has spoken of fulfilling her dream of opening her own business while being a full-time carer for her son.
Caroline Wheeler left school without any GCSEs and had trained as a classroom assistant, but recently returned to South West College in Enniskillen to pursue her goal of opening a massage business.
Enniskillen woman Caroline has spent the best part of four decades devoted to looking after her son Lee, who suffers from a rare disability known as Diploid/Tripoid mosaicism.
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She says it is a dream come true to open up her own therapy business in the Killyhevlin Business Centre.
“I always had a bit of interest in it but had always got sidetracked and did other things,” Caroline said.
“My partner said to me a couple of years ago why wouldn’t I go back to college and do a course in it.
“So I ended up doing course after course after a couple of years and I finished my last one last week there.
“You get out of it what you give and I’ve always been a person to help other people, so it was just about finding my purpose.
“I really do love doing what I’m doing now it’s just magical what I have got back from it."
Caroline has set up a unit in the Killyhevlin Industrial Estate and has built up a list of regular customers since she started the business, ‘Carly’s Holistic Therapies’.
She added that it has been a ‘juggling act’ to study while caring for Lee, but one of the most rewarding things she has done,
“It’s been fantastic but it has been extremely busy, I’ve been a full-time carer for my son now for 38 years,” Caroline adds.
“It’s great just to be able to have a life outside of that as well and I can work around that as best I can.”
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