A DISABLED pensioner was hospitalised by a collapsing ceiling after the Housing Executive failed to carry out repairs at his Twinbrook flat.
Eugene McKee fell and hit the corner of a radiator – spattering his kitchen walls with blood – when his ceiling collapsed due to a leak emanating from an upstairs apartment, which he first reported four days earlier.
Eugene struck a radiator in his kitchen after the ceiling collapsed
The 65-year-old returned to his home on 21 January – which was a Friday – to find the property in darkness, with the electric knocked off by the leak. At the time he contacted the Housing Executive to report that water running into his apartment had caused parts of his ceiling to give way.
On 25 January (Tuesday), a larger section of the ceiling collapsed on Eugene. He had to receive stitches in his arm and treatment to his face, which was split open after he fell and struck a radiator.
The Andersonstown News spoke to a visibly distraught Eugene on Monday – six days after his ordeal – when the Housing Executive had still not carried out ceiling repairs.
Eugene, who suffers from COPD and has a pacemaker in his heart, told how it took him four days to clean up the mess caused by the leak.
"It's the sixth time I've been flooded," he said.
"They sent a spark out because there was no electric and it was pitch black.
"He got the sockets working, but the water was coming through the ceiling light. He said I'd have to wait on the plumber. I said 'what am I waiting on a plumber for – the leak is upstairs'. He scooted out and then the only other person came was a joiner. He put up a bit of plywood up and said somebody would be out to see me, but nobody came.
"It took me to four o'clock in the morning to try to get all the water out, so I lay down for an hour or so and started all over again. It took me about four days altogether."
The former blanket man, who had a steel plate fitted in his neck after being brutalised in the H-Blocks, said he was making a cup of tea in his kitchen when the ceiling fell in on him.
"It's desperate," he said. "I've been sitting in this chair all week. It has really brought me down.
"I was lying there for about two hours before I could get up. I've had a couple of heart attacks, I have a pacemaker in, and I've a broken neck, which I got in jail during a strip search. My neck and shoulders are wrecked, and I only noticed the other day that my back is all scraped too."
After being contacted by the Andersonstown News, a Housing Executive spokesperson said it has since moved to carry out repairs.
“We received reports of water ingress at this property and, after repeated requests, we managed to gain access to an adjacent property to deal with the source of the issue," a spokesperson said.
“Repairs are now underway and the ceiling is secure. Additionally, we will remove unsafe vinyl floor coverings fitted at the property, replacing with non-slip vinyl tiles to reduce risk.
“We will also carry out additional repairs, replacing items such as cupboard doors, which may have been damaged by water.”
