A man with motor neurone disease has said he is “scared he will fall again” after crucial repairs and upgrades to his home have still not been carried out by Buckinghamshire Council.
Robert Tyler, 57, originally from Bracknell, wants his downstairs bathroom converted into a wheelchair-accessible wet room so he can shower safely.
He also wants a ramp installing at his front door and raised doorway thresholds removing at his home in Great Missenden.
“I can’t get round,” Robert told the Local Democracy Reporting Service on Monday, “I’m scared I’ll fall over again. I fell over yesterday. It’s taking very long. I email them and email them again.”
The former building maintenance engineer has fallen at home six times since Christmas, including at the weekend when he “nearly smashed the glass shower screen”.
The council said that a delay to doing the work at Robert’s home was the processing of a Disabled Facilities Grant, which has now been completed.
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It claimed another delay was caused by the council waiting for consent for the works from Robert’s landlord HS2, the high-speed rail company.
Robert was diagnosed with MND in July last year and the brain and nerve condition currently affects his speech and left foot and leg, which he struggles to raise.
He said it had been more than seven weeks since the council was informed of his situation and that he had sent several emails to HS2’s agent Carter Jonas.
The tenant, who has worked as an electrician, plumber and gas fitter, says he and his wife Sarah, 52, have never missed a payment in the nearly 14 years they lived at the property.
Robert said he finds it hard to talk about his situation but warned of what could happen if his home is not made more accessible soon.
He said: “I want to shower myself, but I can’t without falling over. If I break my arm, I can’t use the wheelchair.”
Sarah described how difficult it is for her husband to shower in their stand-up cubicle, once he has managed to get into the bathroom on crutches.
She said: “His legs stick out of the shower. It needs a whole proper shower so he can wheel himself into it.
“If he wants to go out, he can’t use the front door either if I’m not here. He falls over a lot. He needs that wheelchair.”
Robert said that by sharing his story he hopes “more people become aware of his condition and what it can do”.
Carl Jackson, the council’s deputy cabinet member for homelessness and regulatory services, said: “Buckinghamshire Council has been liaising with Mr Tyler over his application for a Disabled Facilities Grant.
“To assess Mr Tyler’s eligibility for the grant, the Council had to clarify some details about his application.
“That process has been completed and the grant has been confirmed. The work to the bathroom cannot start without consent from the landlord. The Council has asked the landlord for that consent.”
A spokesperson for HS2 Ltd said: “We appreciate the urgent need for changes to be made to Mr Tyler’s home and we have provided Landlord consent to Buckinghamshire Council.
“This is subject to him entering into a ‘licence for alterations’ which is standard practice when a tenant wants to undertake work to a rented property.”
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