A disabled man claims he spent 23 hours on the floor after falling out of his wheelchair in an ‘unsuitable’ third floor flat he was placed in by a South London council.
Nathan Rollinson, 33, was unable to eat or use the toilet while he waited overnight for emergency services to find a way to evacuate him from the property in Clapham, South London, at the end of June.
Firefighters ended up having to hoist Mr Rollinson over the flat’s balcony to get him out of the property because a lift in the building managed by Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (MTVH) was out of order.
He was treated at hospital for spinal problems, kidney injuries and a blood clot in his lungs following the evacuation.
Speaking about his fall on June 28, Mr Rollinson said: “I had to crawl out from under the wheelchair. It’s about 160kg so it wasn’t easy. I couldn’t reach my phone so I had to drag myself along the floor.
“I didn’t eat during that period. I couldn’t go to the toilet. I had to hold on. The only safe route [for an evacuation] was the fire lift and the fire lift was broken. They had to do an unsafe evacuation [over the balcony].”
Mr Rollinson has been a wheelchair user since suffering brain and spinal injuries in a rugby accident last year. He claimed the ordeal would never have happened if Lambeth Council’s adult social care team had placed him a more appropriate property to begin with.
Mr Rollinson said: “It was not wheelchair suitable. It was impossible to use the bathroom and I couldn’t use the kitchen. There was not enough space for them [emergency services] to do anything.”
Mr Rollinson has now left hospital and is staying at a hotel in Central London while he waits for the council to find him a wheelchair accessible property to continue his recovery in.
Lambeth Council said it was ‘sorry’ to hear of the difficulties Mr Rollinson faced due to the broken lift and said it was offering him further support, including with his housing situation.
A council spokesperson added: “We have been providing Mr Rollinson with long-term support. The property was offered to him because of his apparent vulnerability and so he could be fully assessed. He accepted the offer and an occupational therapist found the flat was suitable for him, with support. We remain committed to providing ongoing support [to] Mr Rollinson.”
Mr Rollinson disagrees with Lambeth Council about the suitability of the property and says he has been moved out of the flat following the fall in June.
MTVH said it was ‘concerned’ by the distress caused to Mr Rollinson by the broken lift and said it had sent someone to investigate within an hour of being made aware of the problem. The housing association confirmed that the lift was fixed by July 2 – four days after Mr Rollinson’s fall.
A spokesperson added: “Due to the complexity of the issue, a specialist technician was required which was the reason for the delay… During the period in which the lift was not operating, we introduced a ‘waking watch’ physical presence to provide reassurance to residents that a team were on site to support them in the event of the building requiring an evacuation.”
The London Fire Brigade (LFB) said firefighters were called to an incident on Wakeford Close in Clapham on June 29 at 3:24pm. A spokesperson said a 32m turntable ladder was used to remove a person from a third-floor balcony. Firefighters left the scene at 6:53pm.
The London Ambulance Service declined to comment, citing patient confidentiality.
