A New Abbey pensioner is back home from after being hospitalised when her central heating system failed.
Elma Montgomery spent three days in DGRI recovering from breathing difficulties and hypothermia.
Her cousin and guardian, Dumfries man David Stitt, brought her home on Thursday night.
Wheelchair user Elma, 75, was found freezing wrapped in a blanket last Monday after her boiler timer switch failed.
The pair spent hours trying to contact Scottish Power to report the emergency.
The utility has now vowed to put in a new system as a matter of urgency.
Recovering at home, Elma told the News: “It has been a very difficult time. Why should we have to push it? Everything should be sorted out automatically.
“I hope this is the last time I have to go through this. At the minute I just feel numb – it has been heartbreaking.”
David, 72, said on Friday: “I fetched her home from DGRI last night.
“I had to buy two halogen heaters because the heating was still not working correctly.
“Scottish Power say they are going to reimburse me for those.
“They are also going to remove the faulty equipment and replace it with a modern up to date meter, which should finally fix the problem.”
He added: “We are truly appreciative of what the paper has done.
“It helped us through because we were getting nowhere.
“More importantly it spurred them on to actually do something.
“This means she’ll have her heating and won’t be sitting in the cold for three days and having to be hospitalised.
“When an old person is in a position like that they are very vulnerable.”
“The new system will be installed on Tuesday.”
