Housing bosses are set to move a dying man's family so he can be nursed at home in his final days - but only after the Manchester Evening News stepped in. Salford couple Peter and Annie Elcock say they were initially told it would take up to 12 months to carry out alterations on their Broughton home so that their 37-year-old son Patrick's wheelchair could fit through the door.
But Patrick, who has been bed-bound in Salford Royal Hospital since February as a result of a rare muscle-wasting illness, is unlikely to live that long, say his parents. Peter, 57, who is himself disabled and Annie, 54, had asked housing provider Salix Home to make door-widening alterations to their Flora Drive home, even offering to foot the bill themselves.
Patrick suffers from myotonic dystrophy, a genetic condition that causes progressive muscle weakness and wasting. He also has a benign brain tumour. The illness is affecting his heart, lungs, liver and kidneys and he has to be fed by tube.
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Despite the intense level of care he requires, Peter and Annie said they are well-equipped to care for him at home and have made his room ready. “The only problem is, we can’t get his wheelchair through our door,” said Peter.
“They can’t widen the front door, so Salix have suggested putting patio doors at the back of the property directly into his room, but that it will take between six and 12 months to complete. By that time it’s likely to be too late. We just want him home so he can spend his last days with us in a loving home.
“He’s extremely frustrated lying there in hospital. The staff at the hospital have been remarkable. They are fantastic."
Annie added: “We have weekly meetings at the hospital about his condition. It was suggested that he may go into a nursing home, but that would cost much more than making our home fit to look after him."
She continued: "We feel like we're swimming in mud and getting nowhere. Patrick wants to come home. We want to spend whatever time we've got left with him with and give him some quality of life.
"We don't know what's round the corner, but he's getting worse week by week."
However, after the M.EN. contacted Salix for comment, the Elcocks received a call from the housing provider, offering them a more suitable home than the one where they have spent the last 26 years.
Peter said: "My wife has now received a phone call from Salix Homes offering us a three-bedroom House in Ordsall, Salford which we need to look at it next week. I do believe they are working on it doing repairs or something. The man asked my wife to speak with you and tell you they offered us an adapted three-bedroom house.
"Thank you so much [to the M.E.N.]. It’s just the push they needed. Me and my whole family are so grateful for your help, now hopefully we can live together as a whole family and finally get my son out of hospital and spend every day with him at home instead of going to hospital every night like I have been doing for the last six months.
"I cannot begin to thank you enough for listening to our story. Once again I thank you so much."
Salix Homes' executive director of assets, growth and sustainability Liam Turner, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “We sympathise with Mr and Mrs Elcock’s situation and fully understand their urgent need to be able to bring their son home.
“We are treating this case as a priority and we’re working very closely with the family and the occupational therapy team within the NHS to find a resolution as quickly as possible.
“We have carried out surveys at their property to explore all options for adaptations. This is a complex case requiring a number of major adaptations in order to make the property safe, accessible and appropriate for the customer’s needs, and unfortunately, the structure and layout of the property is not suitable for the level of adaptations that are required.
“There is a shortage of suitably adapted and accessible properties for disabled people, both in Salford and nationally, but at Salix Homes, we are committed to working with our partners to do all we can to ensure our customers live in safe and appropriate housing that meets their needs.
“In this case, we have recently identified another property which may be more appropriate for the customer’s needs and we’re currently working with the family and the NHS to explore the options available.”
The struggle over Patrick's care is the latest event in a traumatic three years for the Elcock family.
Peter, who is a security worker at the gatehouse at the Kellogg's factory in Trafford Park, himself suffered from a ‘hidden disability’ after being struck down by Covid in 2020.
“Of 68 people who went into Salford Royal with the disease, I was the only person to survive,” he told the LDRS. “It was in the early stages of the pandemic when little was known about the best way to treat it.
“I was in a coma for four weeks. They brought me out of the coma slowly. They reckon other people were brought out of their comas too quickly and, as a result, suffered heart attacks and died.
“I was on the brink of heart failure myself.” And he said he now suffers from ‘long Covid’. “My lungs and kidneys are damaged,” he continued. “And breathing is very difficult. I can’t walk very far and there is a constant pain across my chest.”
He now also suffers from type two diabetes caused by Covid. “I have a lot memory loss,” he said. “And there is my sleep apnea [a potentially serious sleep disorder where breathing repeatedly stops and starts].” This requires him to have oxygen by his bed at night.
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