JLS star Oritsé Williams opens up on mental health battle and mum's devastating illness
JLS star Oritsé Williams has opened up about his experience being a young carer after his mum was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) when he was just 12 years old.
With this week marking National Carers Week, Oritsé is now a Celebrity Ambassador of the MS Trust and is keen to raise awareness of the reality faced by young carers up and down the country.
“I became an adult overnight. It was tough at school, I was very misunderstood by teachers. I was tired and exhausted and would sometimes be labelled as a bad kid because I wasn’t able to meet all of the deadlines which was extremely unfair,” he tells OK!.
“I had to pick my brother and sister up from school and we had to make sure that the household was functioning while also taking care of our mum. We had to administer medication in the form of injections with no previous medical experience. But we had maximum effort and love and unity between us to do the very best that we could do for our mum.”
As a result of the experience, the 37 year old says that himself and his siblings, Temi and Naomi, became closer than ever as they cared for their beloved mum, Sonia. Even now, 15 years on, the Beat Again singer says that they continue to champion each other and they even came up with a plan to help their mum.
“Myself and my siblings, we have an unshakeable bond. Nothing can tear us apart. We really championed each other as much as possible. My brother and I came up with an idea that we were going to do everything we could to cure our mum,” he explains.
“The promise was that my brother would become a scientist and I would become a musician so we could raise lots of money and find a cure. My baby brother ended up graduating in biomedical science, and I ended up becoming a musician.”
However, as there’s currently no cure for MS, Oritsé admits that the thought of being unable to deliver a cure for his mum and other people with the condition is one that weighs heavy on his mind.
“You carry that heaviness of knowing that no matter how much you succeed, we're not able to find a cure for our mum,” he reveals.
Because of his experience, Oritsé has since reflected on his mental health and how being a young carer affected him. “I’ve had to realise that over time there was an impact on my mental health, but we were moving so fast that there was no time to even think about how we felt or what our emotions were,” he says.
“There weren’t really any organisations like the MS Trust around at that time that were there to support us. The MS Trust is incredible as it can provide support to people with MS as well as carers.”
Moving forward, the singer is keen to do all he can to help give a voice to young carers. While his music career may be going from strength to strength, Oritsé has visions of entering Parliament one day to tackle the subject that’s so close to his heart.
“I'm always going to do everything I can to raise awareness. The issue is that we have adults speaking to adults about what young carers need and not young carers speaking to adults and people in power about what they need,” he says.
“These young carers have their own experiences that they would share if they were given a platform. I imagine myself one day marching into central London with a team of young carers and speaking at Parliament.”
He’s also using his music to draw attention to the topic and his single Language is all about love language, including how your love language could come in the form of caring. “I’ve had a lot of young carers reach out to me and say ‘my love language is caring’. The fact that my song has now made people think about how they communicate is amazing,” he explains.
“My mum is a huge fan. She always hears my music before anybody hears it. When she's in the car and she's like, ‘let me hear again’. Every time we get together as a family, she wants to show everyone the music video for Language as she’s so proud of it.”
He adds: “I still have my story to be told. By being able to write and produce my own music, I'm able to highlight my heritage, my background, my culture, who I am as an individual. The music is a pure creative expression of who I am.”
Despite all that he’s achieved, Oritsé has no plans to slow down. Whether it’s continuing to grow his solo career - teasing fans there’s new music on the way - or championing young carers, it’s clear that Oritsé is on a mission.
“I think young Oritse would be proud of me and he’d tell me to keep going and keep believing that I can make significant change and speak for the hidden army of young carers all around the world and in the UK that don't get the spotlight shone on them,” he says.
For more information and support on living with MS visit www.mstrust.org.uk
If you've been affected by any of the issues in this story you can contact Samaritans in the UK and Ireland on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie
