News

Ponders End mother forced to delay cancer surgery amid housing shortage

Landlords tell desperate mum Chantel they can’t “take the risk” with her while current housing association cites “limited availability” as she needs flat without stairs, reports James Cracknell

Chantel Graham needs urgent surgery on her liver but won’t be able to climb stairs for ten weeks afterwards

A single mother living in Ponders End says she’s being forced to delay urgent cancer surgery because of the difficulty finding a home without stairs.

Chantel Graham currently lives in a housing association flat in Ponders End High Street with her two daughters, both of primary school age, but already has difficulty climbing the two flights of stairs to her front door as she’s suffering from colon cancer and has undergone chemotherapy.

Doctors have now told Chantel she needs urgent surgery to remove the latest cancerous growth, on her liver, but that she won’t be able to climb stairs during the ten-week recovery period.

Since her most recent diagnosis Chantel, who is on long-term sick leave from her job as a flight attendant with a major airline, has been frantically trying to find an alternative flat which doesn’t force her to climb stairs, so that she won’t be completely housebound during her recovery.

Chantel’s current landlord, Newlon Housing Trust, has said it “very rarely” has vacant properties where it can move its existing tenants.

A tearful Chantel met the Dispatch this week and said: “I have a diagnosed disability [cancer] and I am really struggling with the stairs. When I look at other properties they say they cannot take the risk with me because I am waiting for surgery.

“I don’t know what I will do for the ten weeks. I need any help that’s available for my children, as I have no family in the immediate area.

“I can’t imagine having to live here while I am recovering.”

Chantel previously had keyhole surgery on her colon, which has a shorter recovery time of four weeks. During this time she couldn’t leave her flat, so a friend helped with the school run, although her daughters’ school was sometimes forced to provide cabs.

Chantel got the all-clear from cancer in February, but the new growth on her liver was discovered in August. Now, the same friend is no longer available to help with the school run.

If she remains stuck in the flat during the next recovery period Chantel says she fears social services might step in, which is why she’d told doctors she was reluctant to get the cancer surgery until she could move house.

“They said they understood that I wanted to be there for my daughters, but once the cancer takes control of my liver, there is a small window when it is operable,” Chantel explained.

“I want to be able to tell my [eldest] daughter that I have a plan and it’s going to be alright, but I can’t.”

Chantel lives in a type of affordable housing called intermediate rent, which is discounted from market rates. Because of her long-term sick leave she is now on universal credit and other benefits, something which many private landlords refuse to accept.

A letter from Chantel’s doctor, seen by the Dispatch, states that “her current living situation has exacerbated her symptoms due to the use of stairs” and that “she suffers from fatigue, nausea and is in constant pain”.

A spokesperson for Newlon Housing Trust said: “As Ms Graham’s housing provider we sympathise deeply with her circumstances. We are unfortunately very limited in terms of being able to offer her alternative accommodation.

“We very rarely have vacant properties that we could potentially move her to and even if alternative housing were to become available it would not necessarily be close to where she currently lives.

“We are arranging for one of our specialist resident support officers to visit her as soon as possible to discuss any ways that we may be able to offer practical support and to assist her with finding out what other assistance may be available locally.”


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