Last year Delijah Symonds boarded a flight with her three-year-old daughter, leaving Bermuda behind. She was frustrated by the lack of local expertise to treat Aryah’s cerebral palsy and exhausted from constantly having to plead for the resources to seek care abroad. Worse, she felt pushed on to financial assistance because the essential support services simply were not available so that she could work.

Nurseries required her to provide a medically trained aide for Aryah, and Dame Marjorie Bean Hope Academy ― the island’s only school for children with complex care needs ― wouldn’t accept her.

Although thriving in Alberta, Canada, Ms Symonds regrets that she had no choice but to leave home.

“I shouldn’t have had to leave. I think it's important for our island, especially [as we head into tomorrow’s election], to speak about experiences at home and it was just very unfortunate that we had to leave in order to give Aryah what she needed. I think that should be amplified: people shouldn't have to leave home to seek resources.”

It was a difficult decision to make, but when she considered how crucial the first five years are in a child’s development, she couldn’t afford to wait on Bermuda.

“I had meetings with different government representatives, and there were no responses from a lot of those areas, and I just couldn't wait,” she said.

“Thankfully, I was born in Canada so I had dual citizenship to be able to give to Aryah, which kind of made it an easier transition. But there's other families and friends that I made on this journey at home that are stuck. Their kiddos’ development won't get what they need in a timely fashion, which honestly breaks my heart.”

Aryah, 4, is enrolled in a special needs programme where she receives the support of physical and occupational therapists and speech-language pathologists.

Every day, the school sends a bus to collect her and drive her back home; every three months she has therapy intensive sessions at the Canadian Centre for Development.

“That’s something that's not offered in Bermuda. We were flying to Boston for healthcare, we were flying to Canada for therapy. We took about six trips a year to get what she needed, all while not being able to work and relying on financial assistance and then trying to run a GoFundMe to fill the gaps.”

Through his job Aryah’s father, Tre Govia, had insurance that covered their trips to Boston and 80 per cent of the cost of medical equipment.

Ms Symonds received “wonderful help” from the Committee of 25 and is also grateful for the support given by Tinée Furbert, the Minister of Youth, Social Development and Seniors; Lindsay Simmons, the Junior Minister of Home Affairs; Beyond Inclusion, a group that creates social opportunities for individuals with support needs; Edgewood Paediatric Services; the nursery Treetops; the therapists provided by the Department of Health in the period immediately after Aryah was born.

Help also came from TerryLynn Tyrell of the Child Development Programme, the BSmart Foundation, the Coalition for the Protection of Children, and Function Junction, which offers paediatric occupational therapy.

“But there were always restrictions on many things and it just didn't make sense to our journey. No one desires to be on financial assistance; this is never what you want. But with there being no school for Aryah led to me not being able to work, which led to further struggles.

“Nobody wants to not be able to provide fully for their child. It broke my heart to not be able to support Aryah as fully as I wanted to be able,” she said.

“From a teenager, I was always eager to help my community. Gathering community service hours was a passion. Helping at church events, singing at community events, singing in the senior homes during Christmas with the school choir, partaking in KBB beach clean-ups and joining Key Club in high school.

“My heart has always had a desire to help people. So to journey with my daughter and feel so unseen and not heard by our government was heartbreaking.”

With her daughter in school, Ms Symonds has secured her first full-time job since 2020, as an office co-ordinator and therapy assistant at the very clinic she and Aryah once had to fly to for sessions.

People from all over the world visit the Canadian Centre for Development for paediatric therapy, occupational therapy, speech-language pathology, paediatric massage and other needs.

“We see about 45 different kids with all different sorts of disabilities a week. I feel like I'm exactly where I was meant to be.

“Being surrounded by so many families that walk a similar journey, being that first point of contact for a lot of families who are scared of where their child's development will go ― and I know that feeling ― is just amazing,” Ms Symonds said.

“Seeing kids take their first steps at six and seven years old, say their first words at ten – it instils hope in me. When you first get these diagnoses, it's terrifying. There's a lot of emphasis on what they may not be able to do based on their injuries.

“And so to see kids, as well as Aryah, beating those odds and thriving, it fills my heart. I really do have an attitude of gratitude for our journey, because I was feeling so defeated at home.”

In Calgary, her own stress is less. Aryah has access to mobility equipment and lives in a place built for inclusivity with playgrounds, walkways, stores and restaurants designed for all.

“At home I was begging for people to understand what her journey will require, the equipment she needs, the type of therapy that she needs, how much therapy she will need. With Aryah’s brain injury, the brain doesn't grow back. Through therapy it creates new neural pathways to allow that development. And so what she needed was to be somewhere else that could provide these things.”

In Bermuda she often was told that certain services were not available because injuries such as Aryah’s “don't happen often enough”.

“I often compare it to the pandemic. [Events like that] don’t happen often but we prepared ourselves for that. So when kids are born with disabilities and need further support, we should be prepared to accommodate, not shrug them off.”

Ms Symonds would one day like to return to Bermuda but all of that depends on her daughter’s progress.

“Every six months we return to Alberta Children’s Hospital for neurology visits and ophthalmology visits and home nutrition visits, feeding visits, and all those things because Aryah’s stroke completely took out her motor cortex.

“She doesn't have motor skills [which] come so naturally to most of us through development. Through the therapy, we can train her body to try and compensate for the damage that was done, to help maximise her developmental potential.”

Aryah’s progress over the past year has been remarkable. She can now sit unassisted and is trying to stand as well. She’s also shown interest in independent play.

“Her determination is also very inspiring. She has a desire to be included. She has a desire to move her body. I can't fix the brain injury but, I know I've done everything that I could possibly do to help build her future. One day, she is going to have to face this world without me, and I want to prepare her in fullness to whatever her independent level will be.”