He deserves a medal. That is the opinion of one mum who has suffered three heart attacks and has been cared for by her son since he was 13 years old.

Oxfordshire's 680 identified young carers surely do - they have to give up a normal childhood so that they can care for their stricken mum or dad.

In our county, children as young as eight not only have to cope with their schoolwork and growing pains, but suddenly becoming the head of a household and dealing with the emotional strain of caring for an adult incapacitated by ill health, disability, mental distress or substance misuse.

With County Hall due to publish a review this month on ways it could help young carers, Oxford Mail reporter Chris Walker met some of Oxfordshire's brave boys and girls to see what they need to make their lives easier...

THEO Hester, 16, of Long Ore, Stonesfield, cares for his mum Ros Hughes, 50, who - out of the blue - was struck down with three heart attacks in the space of three weeks in 2004.

Theo has been caring for his mum since the age of 13.

He is currently taking his GCSEs at the Marlborough School in Woodstock where he is expected to get a mix of A's and B's.

Although Theo no longer has to check on his mum every morning to see if she is alive, he still does a lot of the cooking, cleaning, washing-up and shopping for the family, as well as remembering his mum's hospital and dentist appointments.

He said: "In school it would be better if we had a counsellor who knew a bit about young carers and who could recognise the problems and be able to have someone to talk about it.

"You can feel isolated in this situation - half my friends still don't even know I'm a young carer.

"Counselling is a big thing for children because they don't always know what is happening.

"You have to deal with a sudden life change because suddenly you have to look after your parent.

"We need support for the financial hardship because our cashflow went in reverse when my mum had to stop working and we got into debt within three months."

Young carers are not allowed to claim the £50 weekly rate available to an adult carer for looking after someone for 35 hours a week.

Theo added: "I also need greater understanding at school. Even if teachers know about my situation they still expect you to keep up with the hours of homework every night, having to get to school on time when it's not always possible and having to wear the correct uniform.

"I can manage at school and in some people's eyes I could do really, really well but I know that my potential won't be lived up to."

Ms Hughes, 50, a former qualified sign writer and child carer said: "Transport is a big problem out here. Just going to Oxford is an ordeal for us because my health is such that I have to keep sitting down.

"Theo deserves a lot of credit because it's an unseen problem he's living with. He doesn't go to school and get patted on the back for the fact that he's survived a weekend with his mum. He has managed with enormous courage and good humour to cope with a catastrophe that none of us was expecting.

"He deserves a medal."

STEVEN Truby looks after his mum Clare Latimer, 36, and sister Chelsea Moore, five.

The 16-year-old from Prescott Avenue, in Banbury, has been a carer for almost 10 years after his mum was diagnosed with Avascular Necrosis, which causes a loss of blood to the bones and for her knees and shoulders to collapse.

She also suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome.

Steven acts like a mum and dad to the house doing almost all the house work, gardening, cleaning bathrooms and toilets as well as regularly dropping off and picking up his sister at school and waking his mum in the morning.

The part-time Banbury College student is concerned that if his mum does not get home help he won't be able to do a full-time construction course at the college next year.

Steven was also frustrated that he would lose his £30 education maintenance allowance if he had to turn up late to look after his mum.

He said: "People need to be more aware of young carers and what they do.

"Money is really tight and I would like the school to realise if I am late the reason is I'm caring for my family because I can't afford to lose money.

"When I have school work I always have to put my mum and sister first."

SISTERS Jeannie, 14, Shannah, 11, and Nisha, 10, became carers for their mum and gran after an accident left 40-year-old Jan Bennett with two prolapsed discs.

While their mum was bed-ridden for weeks and still needs a stick to walk, the sisters have taken on the responsibility for two households, including their gran, Jeanette, 76, who suffers from osteo-arthritis and lives next door.

Mrs Bennett, of Danesmoor in Banbury said: "I had to get out of hospital when I was told my children were going to be put in foster care for a couple of weeks. That scared me to death.

"It was really hard on them. They had to do the shopping with their dolls' buggies and do two or three runs with them to get all the shopping.

"They take it in turns to sleep at their gran's and look after her. It's getting better now I can do more for my mum, but for a long while it was a nightmare.

"There should be a Childline system so that young carers can get advice on the phone. Kids just get on and do it and try and take it in their stride, but it's tiring physically and emotionally for them."

Nisha said: "They should give us less homework because we can't always do it because we are always busy having to do things to help our mum and gran."