Mum electrocuted after touching wet socket in damp flat
Pregnant teen blacked out turning on tree
A pregnant mother blacked out after receiving an electric shock when she plugged her Christmas tree lights in after complaining for months about the damp in her flat.
Nicola Wilson was decorating the tree with her two-year-old son Harvey, when she reached behind an armchair to plug the lights in, unaware of how wet the socket and surrounding wall were.
The 19-year-old, who is expecting another boy after Christmas, said: “I leaned over the armchair and used one finger to flick the switch. The shock jolted me back into the room.
“My partner said I blacked out for a minute and when I came round I burst into tears.
“I had a tightness in my chest like someone had pressed it really quickly.
“It was quite scary but that didn’t last long. The shock went up to my elbow then back the other way.
“It was about two hours before the feeling went off completely.”
Miss Wilson dialled 111, the NHS non-emergency number, and an ambulance was called.
A paramedic wrote on a report into the call-out: “House is damp, walls visibly wet and mouldy, plug sockets wet.”
She was not taken to hospital as her baby was moving, but was advised to call her midwife or GP or go to A&E if she had any concerns.
Miss Wilson was placed in the privately-owned flat in Roseholme, Barming, by Maidstone Borough Council (MBC) in the summer and her housing benefit pays the rent.
Earlier this month she spent five days with no hot water following weeks with a tempera-
‘The conditions she’s living in, with water running down the walls, could have killed her’
mental boiler and has also made various other complaints about the property.
Her dad Steve Wilson, who has been talking to MBC on his daughter’s behalf, said: “We don’t expect Disneyland but it’s got to be livable.
“The conditions she’s living in, with the amount of mould and water running down the walls, could have killed her.”
A spokesman for MBC said that there was no problem with the electrics but admitted there was a damp problem and advised Miss Wilson to “reduce the amount of moisture in the home”.