Disabled son, mum left with no heat or hot water for days
A MUM and her disabled son have been left without heating and hot water for more than a week despite being told they were a priority and on the “emergency” list.
Lisa Uncles lives in Enderby with her 18-year-old son who has a form of muscular dystrophy - a group of conditions that cause progressive weakness and loss of muscle mass.
The downstairs of their home has been fully adapted to suit the teenager’s needs, but the family have not been able to have a shower or turn on the heating since Tuesday, December 14.
Ms Uncles told the Mercury: “We have had problems with our boiler for years and it seems the root of the problem just isn’t being solved.”
She said her boiler fails to work properly about once or twice a month, meaning she is constantly calling her housing association, East Midlands Housing (EMH), for assistance.
She said: “Last time, it took them five days to come out and they seem to do a different job each time, but it still fails the following month.
“I think it’s disgusting that a young lad, my son, has had to go without a shower for over a week.”
Lisa, who has asked the Mercury not to name her son, claims she contacted EMH on December 14 to report the broken boiler and was told somebody would be out to service it the following day.
She said: “I waited all day until well into the late evening and nobody came.
“I contacted EMH again and they told me they were very busy but we were an emergency and on a priority list.
“They said somebody would call out on Thursday, again nobody showed up. This continued throughout the entire week. I rang them every day and nobody showed up. It’s appalling.
“It’s not like I can do anything myself because the boiler is in the attic. I can’t risk an injury if I go up there because I have to take care of my son.”
The Mercury contacted East Midlands Housing, which has apologised for the delay and said the cause was an engineer who had been listed to visit her had become ill.
EMH’s executive director of housing Christine Ashton said: “We are really sorry and concerned about the impact of this on Ms Uncles and her son.
“Our operatives will be visiting her as a matter of urgency this evening to review the situation and offer temporary measures for heating, as well as any further support.
“Our annual service in July found everything working satisfactorily. However, since then repairs have been reported which we have attended to, ensuring that each time the boiler was left working.
“Unfortunately, following the most recent repair reported, the engineer assigned to visit became ill and we wholeheartedly apologise to Ms Uncles for not being able to complete the repair as expected.
“We will continue to work with Ms Uncles and offer her every support while we get this resolved.”