A grandmother who adopted a severely disabled boy has spoken during National Foster Care Fortnight about the rewards of fostering.

Lucie Ridehalgh and her husband Ian responded to an advertisement in the Keighley News more than six years ago seeking foster carers to look after children with learning disabilities.

A little later the couple, from Dale View Grove, in Long Lee, went on to meet six-month-old Ben in hospital.

He had suffered horrific injuries inflicted by an adult, which starved the oxygen to his brain and left him quadriplegic.

He had also suffered a fractured skull and suffers from epileptic fits as a result.

Mrs Ridehalgh, who works for Catholic Care Adults, in Skipton, said: “Part of the reason we thought of fostering was because our children were getting older.

“They were the usual handfuls as teenagers, we were coping fine, and we thought it would be good to offer a stable home to another child.

“What we weren’t planning for was to fall in love with Ben when we met him.”

Barnado’s Yorkshire and Bradford Council are urgently appealing for foster carers to offer children a stable and caring family on a short or long-term basis.

There are currently 30 children in the care of the local authority who are waiting for long-term foster carers and a national shortage of 10,000 carers.

Mrs Ridehalgh admitted that looking after Ben, now seven years old, could be a bit scary at first, but as time went on they reaped the rewards.

“When he first spoke that was a real high,” she said, “He said ‘di’ for ‘dad’, Ian felt really choked.

“The first time he rolled over was also a huge milestone because we’d been told not to expect him to do anything, that we’d get no response from him.

“He’s a lovely little boy with a fantastic sense of humour.”

The couple formally adopted Ben when he was three years old.

As Ben grew up and started going to what is now the Phoenix School, in Keighley, the couple decided to foster another child, five-year-old Oliver (not his real name), who is registered blind.

Mrs Ridehalgh, who has three grown-up daughters of her own, said: “If you’re thinking about fostering, you have to weigh up what will fit with your family.

“What you do need is patience to care for children. I say pick up the phone to Barnardo’s and chat it through.”