‘We want our house back to how it was’
WOMAN WITH TERMINAL CANCER’S PLEA AFTER ALLEGED ARSON ATTACK
A TEESSIDE couple are still dealing with the aftermath of an alleged arson attack which damaged their home – almost six months after the terrifying incident.
In December last year, John and Susan Williams’ car was torched in a reported targeted attack in Brotton.
John, 44, woke up in the early hours one Monday morning to see his Ford Focus engulfed in flames.
The blaze then spread to his Toyota CHR and damaged the home’s windows and front door.
The traumatic incident took a toll on the health of 53-year-old Susan, who is currently battling cancer.
She had found that her cancer had spread to her spine just a week before the incident.
Now terminal, Sue wants to make lasting memories with her loved ones – and John wants their Cunningham Close home “back to normal”.
At the time, Cleveland Police investigated the incident as arson with intent to endanger life, with the fire spreading to both vehicles on the driveway and the heat cracking one of downstairs windows – which still remains broken.
John claims that he has had “three or four” people assessing his home from The AA Home Insurance, with no work taking place for almost half a year.
John said: “The cars are sorted but the home insurance is still ongoing, we’ve had three or four different people out to assess the damage over the last six months but we’ve got nowhere yet.
“We’ve been told by AA that they’re trying their best but there’s a long waiting list.
“Susan’s got terminal cancer and she has deteriorated since the fire, with it being over the winter we’ve had the heating on but with the window and the door being broken we’ve had all the cold air coming in.” The couple were able to replace the cars following the incident, but with one of the cars uninsured when the fire took place due to it waiting for an MOT – they were unfortunately unable to claim back on their insurance.
Devastatingly, Susan says she and John just want their family home back to normal “before she goes”.
He added: “I know she wants to see our house back to normal before she goes, we’re just getting sick of it all now.
“We’re not asking for much we just want our house back to how it was.
“Every time you drive up you’re reminded of what happened and we just want to forget about it, we’re trying to make memories but it’s just killing us.
“It’s been six months now and luckily we’ve been able to get a new car but nothing else has been sorted. There’s still a lot of
Susan Williams melted debris on our driveway from the fire and we have to park on an angle out the way because we don’t want the tyres slashed by the metal.”
As of Wednesday, May 31, John told The Gazette that the front window and door will be repaired on June 9; and a new garage door is set to be fitted within the next few days.
A spokesperson for The AA Home Insurance said: “We’ve investigated this claim and have apologised to the customer for the unacceptable delays they faced, but can confirm that the repair work is under way.
“We apologise once again to the customer and will work with them directly to resolve their complaint.”
Every time you drive up you’re reminded of what happened and we just want to forget
about it.