Amputee rolls into road while putting out his recycling bags
AN AMPUTEE who relies on a wheelchair accidentally rolled on to a main road while struggling to put out his recycling bags alone.
Seventy- two- year- old Ray Howe – who lost his left leg due to a blood clot – said he would not have been placed in that situation if Bridgend County Borough Council had provided the help he is entitled to sooner.
“I had to put my recycling out in the dark and the bag slipped and my wheelchair went out on to the main road, which is quite a busy road,” he said.
The former store assistant at B&Q in Cardiff said he had to wait three weeks for an assessment for an assisted collection.
The fiercely independent Bridgend resident is now calling on the council to act immediately on calls for help so that others do not face the same predicament.
“I think they should react straight away in a situation like that, (because) you leave people in a situation where they’re struggling to put their recycling out,” said Mr Howe, who had his left leg amputated nine weeks ago following a bout of pneumonia.
Mr Howe said he has now been told that from next week the council’s waste contractor, Kier, will collect his rubbish and recycling from the top of the driveway next to the house.
This will save him dragging the bags 15 feet to the pavement while trying to control his wheelchair.
But he said the council’s slow response had been disappointing.
“I phoned on December 15 and I gave my information and they said somebody would be out to assess me. Nobody came so I rang back on the 20th and I was told they had no information on it and would send somebody out in a few days.
“I then phoned on January 4 and spoke to somebody who said it was a pro- cess and he didn’t know if it’d be weeks or months.”
A Bridgend County Borough Council spokesman said: “We would like to apologise to Mr Howe for the delay in his assessment.
“His request was received over the Christmas period, which inevitably is busy and causes disruption to normal working practices, but none the less we recognise that the service on this occasion could have been better.
“We will work with our waste partners, Kier, to review what has happened and improve the service for other local residents in the future who require assessments for assisted collections.”