Family of disabled teen left without hot water for 15 months
GIRL WITH SPINA BIFIDA CANNOT WARM UP PROPERLY
FOR any family, being without hot water is a disaster, but when your child has a disability that means they suffer from incontinence, their body seizes up in the cold and they suffer from mobility issues, this moderate inconvenience can be a living nightmare – especially if it lasts for more than a year.
Maqueda Marshall, 38, her nineyear-old son and 17-year-old daughter Angel, who has spina bifida, live in an Uxbridge house managed by Hillingdon Council where they have had no hot water for 15 months.
Her eldest daughter, 20, has had to move out of the family home due to the ongoing maintenance issues.
Angel’s condition, spina bifida, occurs when a baby’s spine and spinal cord do not develop properly in the womb.
It causes a gap in the spine that leads to damage to the nervous system and problems can include weakness or paralysis of the legs, bowel and urinary incontinence, and loss of sensation in the legs and buttocks, meaning the person is unable to feel hot or cold.
Despite half a dozen visits from various plumbers to diagnose the problem and consult on repairs, Maqueda says the council have still not shelled out to replace the boiler and pipes to fix the hot water.
The faulty heating system has also led to extremely hot radiators that gave Angel second degree burns.
The lack of sensation she experiences because of her condition led her to lean on the radiator without realising it was burning her.
Maqueda said: “We’ve been without hot water for 15 months. My daughter had an operation in 2017 that left her with bladder and bowel incontinence. She is reliant on hot water.
“She has problems with her muscles too, so in the winter her muscles will seize up because they aren’t fully developed. She’s near enough frozen, she gets cramps and she can’t really move so she has to have hot baths to ease it.
“Hillingdon Council are trying to iron over the problem. They’ve sent one plumber round three times who said we need a combi boiler and the whole system needs to be changed.
“Then they sent a surveyor round who also said they needed to sort out the hot water. They were still dragging their heels, denying there was even a problem.”
Maqueda added that in July, after around a year of battling to get the hot water repaired, Hillingdon Council sent the original plumber back again as an investigator, since they’d updated his job description.
He reiterated that they understood the problem, but still said that “he’s a small cog in a big wheel and the decision is not ultimately down to him”, Maqueda claims.
“I even had a private plumber come out and write a report, but they dismissed the report because it was handwritten. The guy is 60-something years of age, he doesn’t know how to use a computer, but he’s still a professional, his credentials checked out,” she added.
Maqueda claims that the council have “written a report and tried to blame me because I had to replace the bathroom – but they’d refused to do any work in the property.”
She said: “They’re trying to blame me for the problems in the property, but they’re not willing to do the work, change the boiler, update the system, they’re trying to patch things up and we’re still without hot water.
“I’ve spent thousands of pounds replacing the kitchen, the bathroom, because the council refused to do anything. The 16 years that I’ve been here, they’ve done nothing. “They’ve come for a few plumbing issues, where we’ve had leaks downstairs as there was a problem with the tanks, but that was it. They’ve refused to do anything in the property for years apart from maybe replacing the bathroom floor.”
The lack of hot water is not the only issue with Maqueda’s home. The plumbing has also impacted the heating and, in March, Angel was badly burned by a defective heater without
proper temperature controls – she has no sensation in her buttocks after her 2017 operation and did not realise the radiator was dangerously hot.
A hospital report seen by this newspaper shows that Angel needed to be prescribed a topical antibacterial cream and specialist dressings for her injury.
Maqueda explained: “My daughter received second degree burns from leaning on the heater that was broken – she was trying to warm up in the winter.
“She has a big scar across her leg. Because she can’t feel properly she didn’t even know she was burned, but it was really bad.”
On top of this, Angel was told she would need a stairlift in her home after her 2017 operation, but Maqueda says that Hillingdon Council would not install one.
Angel is more mobile now and able to get around on crutches, but a stairlift in the house would still be of huge help to the teenager to have independence in her own home.
Above all, Maqueda just wants to be listened to by Hillingdon Council.
She feels the system that is supposed to be in place to help people – from housing to education to social care – is just not helping them, instead blaming them for their own problems, and is now at a loss for what to do.
She said: “They’re not doing the things they’re supposed to. The issues are always around housing, or my daughter’s health, which is not my fault.
“I shout about it, they say I’m an angry person, but I’m just an advocate for my daughter.
“Even with her education - no education was provided for her when she was off for two years, ill in bed, recovering.
“People like this, who are born with something, shouldn’t they be prioritised and treated with respect and extra care?”
Hillingdon Council has been contacted for comment, but at the time of publication has not received a statement in response.
I’ve spent thousands of pounds replacing the kitchen, the bathroom, because the council refused to do anything.