Disabled man has to crawl up his stairs

marko2002

Following a recent newspaper article on Eddie McHugh, who is actually my brother-in-law, (http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/article2255451.ece) I wonder if anyone is able to clarify what the situation is regarding the law on housing in Scotland. Eddie's situation is dire, as he has already had one leg removed and the other is now riddled with arthritis. His injuries came about 6 years ago when he fell from a ladder at work and landed firmly on his feet which then shattered just about every bone in both feet and the lower parts of his legs. I'm sure I don't need to explain the agony he felt at the time, but is also still in severe pain despite being prescribed a massive amount of medication which is also adding to his depression.

Moreso, Eddie stays in this 2 bedroom UPPER cottage flat with Angela his wife and their 3 children. The eldest son, Christopher 18, basically lives from a cupboard and sleeps on the sofa whilst Eddie and Angela as a couple cannot be out together as the risk to Eddie falling down the stairs is too great. The house is basically too small, it poses health and safety risks for both Eddie and Angela as if Eddie were to fall down these stairs it would surely kill him and seriously injure Angela who often has to escort him as Eddie is sometimes required to attend hospital for various ongoing treatment.

More recently, Eddie has just returned from hospital after another operation to remove metalwork from his existing leg so doctors can make a final assessment on whether the treatment to date has made any difference to Eddie's future.

The housing authority are insistant that there are no suitable homes in or around the area they currently reside although I personally have seen a great deal of land and empty properties (such as old janitor houses, etc) which could surely be used?. Until June last year, Angela worked full time and there was talks of custom building them a property on some of this land although they would have to take out a mortgage for half the property. Now Angela has been made redundant and attends to Eddie on a full time basis this option is no longer on the table. The housing department claimed the credit crunch halted these plans although the credit crunch only began at the turn of this year, NOT in June last year!.

Any advice, support or further assistance anyone is able to offer on this matter would be gratefully received as this family are at breaking point despite them having exhausted every avenue known including MP's, SMP's, government departments and so on.
Thanks for listening and kind regards
Mark

Ditzy_2

This must be a dreadful situation to be in and looking a pic the wife looks really strained.
Cannot really offer any constructive help other than maybe they should really consider a private let rather than depending on the LA or HA - perhaps they can help find something more suitable in that if they need to stay in the area to keep ongoing medical treatment or look at other councils if happier moving further afield.
i presume the gentleman is in receipt of DLA and associated benefits to help with rent etc. I do not know the Scottish side of things on how HB is awarded.

I hope that the article gets things moving.

gizmo111

I don't know the law in Scotland - but these will and will help and offer advice if they can FOC.

http://www.govanlc.com/

Sonofa

Okay Mark, I'm going to be clear from the outset that a lot of what I'm about to say isn't directed at you, more so the way you're saying it. What you are saying and the way you are saying it really isn't necessary, please don't be so melodramatic.

Eddie's situation is not dire. It's not nice, it's not ideal, but it is not dire.

"Moreso, Eddie stays in this 2 bedroom UPPER cottage flat (I've never heard of a cottage flat? is this the actual description or something you've decided illustrates the compact nature of their dwelling?) with Angela his wife and their 3 children. The eldest son, Christopher 18, basically lives from a cupboard (Sorry, what exactly do you mean by this? You don't actually explain yourself here, nor do you expand on what Christopher does in terms of 'living from a cupboard') and sleeps on the sofa (Okay, the eldest sleeps on a sofa, you have said that there are three kids; are there two sexes or not? If they have boy(s) and girl(s), I accept this can be a problem with only one other bedroom. I have one daughter and two sons, mine are also of an age where it matters, so we do need two separated bedrooms. Is Eddie's situation similar or not? Does he have children of both sexes? Or is it just the case that his 18 year old son chooses not to share a room with his younger siblings (fare enough)? If they were overcrowded they were overcrowded before. A man with one leg, one wife and three kids is no more ovecrowded that a man with two legs and the same amount of dependants.)

whilst Eddie and Angela as a couple cannot be out together as the risk to Eddie falling down the stairs is too great. The house is basically too small, it poses health and safety risks for both Eddie and Angela as if Eddie were to fall down these stairs it would surely kill him and seriously injure Angela who often has to escort him as Eddie is sometimes required to attend hospital for various ongoing treatment. (I'm sorry, but my powers of PC really do fail me here; !!!! off you melodramatic !!!!! Why is his risk of falling down the stairs so great? Does he insist on cartwheeling down them whilst forgetting he's a spoke missing? If the house (cottage/flat) is too small now it was too small before; this it irrelevant to the fact that he is now disabled. Why the hell would getting down the stairs kill him and injure his wife??)

More recently, Eddie has just returned from hospital after another operation to remove metalwork from his existing leg so doctors can make a final assessment on whether the treatment to date has made any difference to Eddie's future. (I have personal experience of a man who had lost both legs below the knee. I did not know this and just assume that this guy, in his mid-sixties, had hip problems. I saw him clambering over various obstacles and did not know the true extent of his disability until someone who knew him better told me. Why lay it on thick?)

The housing authority are insistant that there are no suitable homes in or around the area they currently reside (So does this mean in the same street, five minutes walk or what? Neither he or his wife now work so why would it matter? Are you actually saying that they have been offered alternative accommodation but have declined it due to the location? If you are saying that there is nothing within the council's domain then say it.) although I personally have seen a great deal of land and empty properties (such as old janitor houses, etc) which could surely be used?. Until June last year, Angela worked full time and there was talks of custom building them a property on some of this land although they would have to take out a mortgage for half the property. Now Angela has been made redundant and attends to Eddie on a full time basis this option is no longer on the table. (The man has lost a leg, half a leg. He needs a bungalow, or at least a house where he can have a bedroom and bathroom on the ground floor if he doesn't have a Stanna. Why, since her redundancy, does his wife need to attend to him full time? The man has managed for the last five years, why now does she need to be at his side full time??) The housing department claimed the credit crunch halted these plans although the credit crunch only began at the turn of this year, NOT in June last year!. (BS, if the council have retracted some vague assurance this is due to spending cuts, call it credit crunch if you like, I would call it a call to common sense. Why would he need a house 'custom' built?)

Any advice, support or further assistance anyone is able to offer on this matter would be gratefully received as this family are at breaking point despite them having exhausted every avenue known including MP's, SMP's, government departments and so on.
Thanks for listening and kind regards


According to your Scottish Sun (believe it or not) your man is 25.5 stones. I'm not about to preach what I don't practise, but wouldn't it be a good idea for a man bearing on one leg to lose some weight? It's just a suggestion and it's his life, not mine.

Regardless of what you might think, I am sympathetic to Eddie's plight. The guy has problems and needs better accommodation to suit his health, I wish him and his family the best of luck and a quick resolution, just please don't dress it up as something it ain't. You aren't helping with this 'tale of woe'.

Rikk

I'm in a similar situation in that I'm a below knee amputee and the other leg has very bad arthritis in the knee and ankle.

First off, why doesn't he have an artificial leg? by now he should be up and walking about on it all day long.
Secondly he really needs to loose some SERIOUS weight, it's an amputee's worst nightmare as it puts massive pressure on the stump and also makes fitting limbs a real pain as the constant increase in weight makes the leg tight.
I do have sympathy for the guy but you have to start sorting yourself out first, he'll find if people see him trying to help himself they'll also be more willing to help him.
BTW, if he needs any advice or help regarding getting fit and loosing weight or solving amputee problems get him to drop me a PM

---lee---

Rikk, your post is very good but you should edit it to remove your email adr. It will get picked up by spam bots. You can always exchange email address using PM (private messaging).

pawpurrs

Can he not move in to private rented accomodation, and then claim benefits if he is so entitiled, rarther than wait for to be housed?

Rikk

---lee--- wrote: »

Rikk, your post is very good but you should edit it to remove your email adr. It will get picked up by spam bots. You can always exchange email address using PM (private messaging).

Always forget about that 8)

marko2002

Thanks everyone for the comments.

gizmo111 - Unless I'm mistaken, these guys will only deal with people in and around the Govan area, but thanks for taking the time to post.

Rikk - As I've posted below, Eddie has struggled with many aspects of his injuries, most of all the depression and pain he is still experiencing, all be it he did have some pain relief after the amputation but his remaining leg is still in a terrible state and because of his recent operation he can't weight bear on it at all. He already has an artificial leg but because surgeons have more or less always been pulling, pushing, fusing and breaking bones in Eddie's legs he has rarely had time to recover and start using this limb. He has wore it before but as I say the extent of Eddie's injuries in both legs means he hasn't had the time he obviously needs to start getting around and his obvious weight issues now only complicate the matter but this is something Eddie and Angela are both working towards. Thanks for your offer of help also and I will pass this offer onto Eddie.

pawpurrs - Again, this comes down to there being suitable accommodation available in the area which I don't believe there is other than those properties which could be adapted and which are already owned by the council!. Thanks for the suggestion though.

Sonofa,

I've never heard of a cottage flat?

As far as I am aware this is how the local authority describe it, wouldn't have been my initial reaction to question it but each to their own!

with Angela his wife and their 3 children. The eldest son, Christopher 18, basically lives from a cupboard (Sorry, what exactly do you mean by this?)

YES there are mixed sexes involved, a boy of 3 a girl of 5 and obviously Christopher of 18.

(A man with one leg, one wife and three kids is no more overcrowded that a man with two legs and the same amount of dependents.)

Why would you even make a statement like this? I quoted fact, I didn't make an assumption. They are overcrowded full stop, whether Eddie has 1 leg, 2 legs or 14 legs, why you raised that point was irrelevant on the most astonishing level.

(I'm sorry, but my powers of PC really do fail me here; !!!! off you melodramatic !!!!! Why is his risk of falling down the stairs so great?)

Eddie is 25 stone, YES he is overweight and HE KNOWS he is overweight, Eddie was always a big man even before the accident and since then he has gained 8 stone in weight. As a man with 1 leg, his stability is halved, particularly when attempting to transfer from a wheelchair at the top of stairs onto the stairs them self. If Eddie were to fall down these stairs, which he has almost done on 2 separate occasions, the chances of survival are slim. Eddie's 25 stone would snap his neck like a twig if he fell and ended up in such a position and Angela's 7 stone frame would be crushed under this weight. Angela has to take Eddie's wheelchair down the stairs for him as and when he reaches that point so if Eddie fell Angela would have little chance of escape as their stairway is extremely narrow.

Eddies OT (Occupational Therapist) and the hospital USED to work with Eddie in physiotherapy each week and Eddie used to have to attend the hospital for this. At this point Eddie's weight began to become controlled and improvements were being seen. Then, all of sudden, Eddie's physiotherapist was to be moved on and Eddie wouldn't be transferred to another one but instead he would wait for a replacement, guess what, that didn't happen and Eddie's treatment was dropped. Despite phone call after phone call and requests to have physiotherapy at home, nothing!. Eventually they received a response to let them know that because of Eddie's weight a physiotherapist wouldn't attend their home as he posed a risk to himself and everyone else through physiotherapy. Request's for further treatment at hospital have fell on deaf ears. Eddie's medication also means he has overwhelming urges for sweet things, yes, fatty sugary sweets - which obviously didn't help the situation and Eddie obviously didn't help himself but when you used to be a proud, hard working and respectable husband and father and are then placed in this situation it's easier to give up on yourself as you feel that other people are doing the same. At one point, Eddie wanted to end his life .. Eddie's psychiatrist feared this and to this day Angela has to administer his medication as the risk of Eddie overdosing on purpose is still very real.

(I have personal experience of a man who had lost both legs below the knee. Why lay it on thick?)

Good for him, and I'm sure he also had a great deal of fun and joy throughout this time and never once let himself get down, I mean after all where's the harm in having your legs removed, I mean it's not as though it would affect you mentally or anything is it? Or not as though your life and the life of your family is changed overnight?. The point here is different people cope with different things in a variety of ways, some can cope better than others. Maybe this guy had all the support in the world, help and assistance he needed - maybe he was lucky enough not to have the worry of a house that was too small or inaccessible and as a former proud working man couldn't do a damn thing about it anymore?.
It doesn't mean those who struggle to cope aren't deserved of support or help, it means we need to try harder to get them through their difficult times and when they are let down by others it means we need to be here to pick up the pieces. Would you, per chance, be the type of person to tell someone with depression to "snap out of it"?

So does this mean in the same street, five minutes walk or what?

For family support, ideally the district they are in at the moment, Castlemilk, though would consider any offer made, not that any has been made though.

(Why would he need a house 'custom' built?) ... (The man has managed for the last five years, why now does she need to be at his side full time??) ...

Did you actually read the article? Apparently there are NO SUITABLE HOMES to offer these people. Angela was working when Eddie had his accident, then took a great deal of time off to attend to him. Constant hospital appointments meant Angela was running back and forth between work and Eddie, and family also helped where they could. Eventually, and because of their long wait for suitable accommodation, they resigned themselves to the fact that the only real option of getting a suitable home was to try and buy one and at that time the council were optimistic that they may be able to custom build a property beside other developments if they could get a mortgage. When Angela was made redundant she herself fell into a deep depression and eventually became so exhausted that she almost gave up on everything and everyone herself. Slowly but surely she regained some faith, alongside Eddie and together they rebuilt their confidence although hope surely would come back to them in time. Throughout Angela working, other family members helped out where they could and after the redundancy Angela and Eddie realized they needed each others support more so than money and that's the reason why Angela now cares for Eddie on a full time basis.

your man is 25.5 stones, but wouldn't it be a good idea for a man bearing on one leg to lose some weight? You aren't helping with this 'tale of woe'.

Massive amounts of medication, lack of professional support and a low self esteem all contribute to Eddie's weight now, but they are becoming focused on their own plight and realize feeling sorry for themselves doesn't change anything although this is the road they have had to come along, like so many other people to realize where they are now and how best to take things forward. Just because someone is overweight, don't be so narrow minded to simply accuse them of being lazy, fat or unwilling to do something about it, there is a story behind this man's weight and not an excuse as you seem to think. As for this 'tale of woe' you're obviously so far misguided in your interpretation of my story you cannot see the woods for the trees.

Angela and Eddie don't want a luxury villa with on-suite and a pool, they want to get on with their life's in a home that can accommodate them. They are not asking for someone to be taken out their home but like us all fail to believe that in a period of 5 years a home hasn't been available that could be adapted to suit Eddie's predicament.

Whilst I appreciate any comments, I can only assume you haven't experienced a situation such as this in your life or if you have you have emerged a bitter person for it as your tone comes across as short of aggressive. You may call it being honest, I would call it being pessimistic, but you're entitled to your views and when we post in public forums such as this we expect to hear them and take them all on board whether we like them or not, that's the beauty of freedom of speech.

Mark

olly300

Just a point - an 18 year old is not a kid. He is an adult.

The council does not have a duty to re-home the 18 year old unless he falls under a vulnerable category like special needs.

marko2002

Good point olly, but isn't it a case then of 3 adults in the home still, being overcrowded? or does this not count?
Cheers