What does it take to look at a five-day-old baby fighting for his life in an incubator and choose a path you know will be profoundly difficult? For Kate Sainsbury, that 2am decision to embrace being mother to her son Louis—despite knowing he would face severe disabilities—was just the first of many brave choices.
Forty years later, Kate found herself facing another moment of reckoning. Louis, now in his thirties, was detained in a hospital hundreds of miles from home, being restrained, drugged, and increasingly traumatised. The care system had failed him. Kate realised she couldn't just go to \"the door marked dentist\" anymore—she would have to build the care herself. This is a conversation that weaves through love, devotion, faith and spirituality.
In this conversation, Kate shares:
The two pivotal moments that demanded courage—one as a new mother, one decades later when the system collapsed
Why she sees people with profound disabilities as leaders, not burdens, and how society needs to shift its lens
How she founded the Aiteal Trust and created an intentional community where Louis now lives in his own home
The reality of challenging professionals, local authorities, and national systems while maintaining relationships
What \"wrestling with your soul\" actually means when you're facing impossible choices
Her vision for ending systemic disabilism and why she believes small collaborative answers matter more than magic wands
Kate's bravery isn't loud or combative—it's rooted in deep knowing, persistent love, and a willingness to see what others can't or won't.
This is a conversation about what it means to step off the conventional path when someone you love depends on it, and how one mother's fight is reshaping how we think about care, community, and dignity.
Chapters
00:00 The moment Kate realised she had to step off the conventional path
05:21 Possibility versus risk and loss for Kate and Louis
07:28 Seeing Louis - Really seeing Louis
14:22 The importance of trauma informed care
17:08 Seeing another way
23:43 Assumptions about the status quo to unlearn
28:05 The practice of spirituality and community
36:16 What listeners could do differently tomorrow
41:53 What's next for Kate and Louis