Disabled woman 'prisoner' in own home as lift to her flat remains out of order after 10 days
A DISABLED woman claims she has become a prisoner in her own home after the lift to her 10th floor flat broke down just before Christmas.
Rose Selway, 58, of Garibaldi House, Grimsby, has not been able to leave her flat since December 22 because she cannot negotiate the stairs in her wheelchair.
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NOT GOOD ENOUGH: Rose Selway, who suffers from cerebella ataxia, in her wheelchair with resident John Drinkell, carer Steven Bishell and councillor Steve Beasant, right. Picture: Jon Corken
Rose, who suffers from cerebella ataxia, a disorder of the nervous system which affects balance and coordination, said: "I am a prisoner. I am disabled and I can't go down the stairs. I feel trapped at the moment."
There are two lifts in the building, but only the one that has broken down stops at the 10th floor. In order to use the other lift, which services the odd-numbered floors, residents have to walk the stairs to either the 9th or 11th floor – something Rose is unable to do.
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She is angry that housing association Shoreline has still not repaired the faulty lift, 10 days after it ground to a halt.
She said: "It's just not good enough. We pay our rent and we should have a service. There are other disabled people in this building and it's not fair. I just hope there isn't a fire. I think it is diabolical."
Fellow 10th floor resident Olive Tyson, 85, said: "I have to go to the 11th floor with my trolley banging along the stairs. It's terrible. I try to get as much as I can when I go shopping so I don't have to keep going out.
"The lifts are always stopping. I think they should reimburse us a month's rent."
Joanne Elliott, head of neighbourhood investment at Shoreline, said: "One of the lifts at Garibaldi House is temporarily out of order and we have made arrangements for it to be fixed.
"Due to the time of year, our contractors have not been able to source the necessary parts as quickly as we would have liked but we have been assured that the problem will be rectified as soon as possible and we will update tenants as soon as we have confirmation.
"If there is anything that we can do to help anyone who is particularly affected then we would urge them to speak to their housing officer or contact us on 0845 8492000."
Comments
by 4everblue
Thursday, January 03 2013, 6:56PM
“Shoreline should stop renting pensioners bungalow's to younger women with children. Perhaps then there would be ground floor accommodation for the disabled.”
by mistletoe50
Thursday, January 03 2013, 5:11PM
“This lady has been offered other accomodation and refused to move , so this will happen again i dont doubt , so she cant complain if she refuses to move .”
by WalterMitty1
Thursday, January 03 2013, 4:26PM
“What has the pictured Councillor done to rectify this?”
by williewonky
Thursday, January 03 2013, 4:08PM
“Erm, 10th Floor + Wheelchair?
Seriously, which genius thought that this was an epic idea?
Surely the higher you are, the more fit you should be in case of - oh I don't know, A FIRE?
Lifts break and can take a while to repair, and over the xmas period, things will take longer. This story just shows how little planning and thinking goes on with people in power these days.
1812o - you're boring now. Seriously, we get it.”
by 1812o
Thursday, January 03 2013, 3:54PM
“As long as candidate hopefuls keep starting boring petitions, and doing boring glum faced photo shoots kneeling at the side of tiny potholes, pavements, sleeping policemen, bits of rubbish in the hope of getting elected / re-elected I'll keep posting the situation reality.
Why hasn't the much photographed councillor managed to get the lady ground floor accommodation by now or rode his bike to the factory store where the required parts are located and demand that they open and bring them back with him. No, it's easier to do a glummy and hope for the sympathy vote, which he'll fail to achieve, just like the lift parts and this reflects the likelihood of being re-elected:
CON 29%(nc)
LAB 39%(nc)
LDEM 8%(nc) Never seen smiling.
UKIP 15%(+1) WOW no wonder the LibDems aren't smiling.
Latest UNS Projection
Labour Majority of 112
It will take more than photo shoots and petitions to revive the LibDems and the ConDemned.
Roll on 2015.”
by Wrathie
Thursday, January 03 2013, 2:08PM
“Forgot....this is Shoreline we're talking about and they only move disabled people when they plan to knock the building you live in down :B.”
by Wrathie
Thursday, January 03 2013, 2:08PM
“What the heck is a disabled person doing living in a 10th floor flat for crying out loud!! Surely someone should have had her moved by now into a ground floor flat or somewhere else suitable :(.”
by ANOM2009
Thursday, January 03 2013, 11:04AM
“first rule of a fire is, DO NOT USE LIFTS. wake up evening telegraph.”
by BaWSox
Thursday, January 03 2013, 11:04AM
“1812o do you really have to keep posting this poll every bloody day? You're getting very boring now.”
by xStevex
Thursday, January 03 2013, 9:16AM
“Oh, please...how about a little more patience dear Rose ?
What are Shoreline supposed to do ?
Magic parts for these lifts out of thin air over the Christmas period ? I doubt even a rub of Alladin's magic lamp would help in this case.
If you live in a block of flats like this then you have to accept lifts will go wrong from time to time. Perhaps a 10th floor flat is not the best place to live with your unfortunate disabilities :-(
Hope the lift is repaired soon.”