Care worker says growing up in care made him more empathic

Care practitioner Pete Logan has written a book about growing up in care, saying it has helped him to empathise more with the people he cares for.

In his book, No One Cares, which he has written to help people who have been through something similar, he reveals he was taken into care at the age of six months.

'My dad had schizophrenia and tried to kill me'

Pete says: “He made a number of attempts to end my life, putting glass in my cot and even broke my nose for being a noisy baby as I lay in a pram.”

Pete spent a few years in care with foster parents where “life was good as long as I behaved”. At the age of five, his foster dad put him fully clothed in a freezing cold bath and pushed his head under the water. Pete says: “I felt the real me died that night”.

He reveals that after a couple of years “living with these horrible people, I was so broken inside, withdrawn, I mistrusted every adult”.

At the age of seven, he and his brother were taken to live with his mum and her new partner and their half-siblings.

Pete soon felt unwanted there as well and says: “I spent many days locked in my bedroom”.

His stepfather drank heavily and regularly beat his mum who then took her anger out on Pete.

'I felt like an animal and not someone's son'

He started to run away from home and says: “I felt like an animal and not someone’s son”.

Eventually at the age of 11, Pete was taken back in care and even spent some time in a boarding school.

At the age of 15, Pete tried to kill himself. “I felt lost, unloved by the world then everything popped and I cut my wrists and even tried to hang myself a few times.”

He then joined another foster family and they took him on holiday to a caravan park in Devon.

He met a girl there and had a holiday romance. They stayed in touch and he ended up moving down south and moved in with her family. But that all went wrong after a few years and he ended up living on the streets. Then he moved into a hostel and was sofa surfing for a bit.

Soon after that Pete met his wife and they now have three children together. Writing his memoir has taken Pete four years as he says: “It has been quite an eventful life.”

Following a stint as a van driver, Pete began a career in care, caring for adults with challenging behaviour and mild disabilities.

His troubled childhood has enabled him to put himself “in the shoes of the people” he was supporting.

'I treated people I cared for, the way I would want to be treated'

“I treated the people I cared for, the way I would want to be treated. I was blown away with the difference you can make to a person’s life.

“I grew up in care and I think that is why I am a million time more empathic as I understand more how they feel.”

Pete has had to give up his job in care to look after his own mental health. He concludes: “There is no manual to living life, we learn as we go, even as adults we’re always learning, so take from this [book] what you want.” “Everyone should care in a world where No One Cares.”

To read No One Cares click here