This post mentions depression and anxiety and may be triggering for some readers.
At 13, Ashley's life was very different to that of other teenagers.
When her mother's arthritis and bursitis suddenly became too painful to cope with, she was unable to continue working. With her depression and anxiety also reaching a peak, her mother found herself requiring immediate care.
"It was a downhill spiral really quickly," Ashley Hall told Mamamia.
Watch: How to talk to people with anxiety. Post continues below.
Her mother began receiving the Disability Support Pension, but with money still tight and none of her other siblings living at home, Ashley was left with no choice but to become her mother's sole carer.
It's a role that unceremoniously fell on her and one she would hold for the next five years.
"I did it because no one else was doing it. If I didn't cook dinner, we wouldn't have dinner and if I didn't clean, it didn't get done," she shared for National Carers Week.
Thrusted into adulthood at a young age, Ashley would spend three hours after school cleaning the house, going grocery shopping and making sure there was dinner on the table for herself and her mum, as well as her dog and two cats.
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