Creating family memories through the shared cinema experience: Immy’s Story

Immy has a rare life-limiting condition. Her Dad, Tristan, told us that, despite the many daily challenges they face with accessibility and meeting Immy’s needs whilst out and about, they are determined to create as many shared experiences for their entire family as they can. Their trips to MediCinema provided the chance to do just that.

We know our time with Immy is finite. She was diagnosed in 2017 with a disease so rare that only seven children are living with it in the UK and about 300 worldwide. It’s a challenging life for the whole family, but it’s a rewarding one – one that we’re determined to fill with as many shared experiences as we can.

Unless Immy is too unwell, we’ll try our best to say yes to everything, to try it all – no matter the barriers. If there’s a financial issue, we’ll find a way. If it’s about distance, we’ll make it work. It’s all about making the most of our time together – for us and Immy, but also for her sister Brooke too.

Immy had been in hospital for a few days when we were invited to a MediCinema screening. My first instinct was to run through the logistics in my mind, figuring out how it could work. Then I started asking questions, waiting for them to turn round and go: “Ah, in which case you can’t come then.” I’d say: “But she’s hooked up to the machine…” And the MediCinema team would say: “Yeah, we’ll take that with us” I’d say: “But she’s in her bed…” And they’d say: “Yeah, we’re going to take the whole bed with us.” I’d say: “I can’t really transfer her from the bed to her wheelchair when we get there, because I’ve done my shoulder in lifting her today.” “No, there’s no need,” they’d say. “She’ll stay in her bed, and we’ll wheel her to the MediCinema. She can watch the film in her bed.”

‘Oh,’ I thought.

I’d exhausted all my questions, and MediCinema had an answer for everything. We’re not used to that. We’re more likely to be told something can’t be done, but here, it was all possible. From the moment we were invited, nothing seemed too much trouble. It took the stress away – the stress of being in hospital and the stress that usually comes with any outing. We didn’t have to be anxious or overthink it – we could just go and enjoy something with Immy. So, we said: “Okay, let’s do this!”.

We massively underestimated what we’d been offered.

We anticipated a generic white brick room with a projector and maybe a couple of speakers. Instead, we walked into a proper cinema. Immy watched the film from the comfort of her bed and although she has poor sight and wouldn’t have been able to see the film, no matter how close she was, she could definitely hear it. We could sit close to her, and I could rub her back, Kelly could hold her hand and we could feel the music of the film all around us. It wasn’t just a film; it was an experience we could share together.

It had been a horrible few days for her – days of tests, needles and broken sleep – but for those two hours she had a break from it all. MediCinema gave her a chance to relax, be comfortable and be part of something special. For me and Kelly, it was a much-needed break, to laugh and just be with Immy.

That night, MediCinema gave us something we had never experienced: watching a film in the cinema together, with Immy in complete comfort. The film we watched was The Lego Movie – perfect for us, because we love Lego as a family.

Now, whenever it comes on, we share a moment. We say to her, “This is the one we saw with you at the cinema when you were in hospital” and she smiles. Every time.