Peggy, my sister, was tough, funny, generous and street smart. She lived with intellectual challenges and paranoid schizophrenia. She also survived in a tough and challenging reality where people lived in the ceiling and walls of her house and came out at night when she was sleeping to move her things, eat her food, watch her TV and steal money.

To deal with this, and to feel safe, Peggy used bolts, padlocks, nails, wood panels and chains. Every door had bolts and padlocks. Every gap between the floorboards or around the skirting boards was nailed or filled with filler. Every day, Peggy would try something new, and every night, the people in the walls came back.

My role was to help with the practical side – angle grinding off the old locks, driving Peggy to the hardware shop, installing the bolts, changing the locks, nailing up the planks. Some people might think I reinforced her delusions or psychosis by helping Peggy do these things. I just wanted her to feel that someone had her back, that she was safe and that she could sleep at night.

Peggy died of cancer in 2018. You can watch a podcast about our experience here.