Wigan pensioner suffers heart attack after pipe burst at home

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An 86-year-old collapsed with a heart attack after she was knocked off her feet by a burst water pipe jet at her Wigan home.

Marjorie Austin spent several days in hospital after the emergency which wrecked her flat and has also been blamed for a sudden worsening in her dementia.

She is a resident of St Clement’s Court sheltered housing scheme in Worsley Mesnes and the incident has drawn criticism of landlord Anchor Housing Association from Marjorie’s daughter Joanne.

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Joanne Austin in mum Marjorie's St Clement's Court home which was was damaged by a burst pipe which knocked the pensioner over and she suffered a heart attackJoanne Austin in mum Marjorie's St Clement's Court home which was was damaged by a burst pipe which knocked the pensioner over and she suffered a heart attack
Joanne Austin in mum Marjorie's St Clement's Court home which was was damaged by a burst pipe which knocked the pensioner over and she suffered a heart attack

Joanne, who also lives at the complex in order to be near her mum, said: “I am not happy with what has gone on in the last couple of weeks.

"On January 9 we rang up Anchor to report some funny noises coming from the taps in Mum’s flat. It sounded like there was something seriously wrong, but no-one came round to inspect it or carry out any repair.

"Then at 10.30pm on Saturday January 18, Mum had gone to bed and was watching telly when she heard this ‘loud bang and a roar’ from the kitchen.

"She hurried in to investigate and was hit in the midriff by this powerful horizontal ‘geyser’ of water blasting out of the pipes.

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Marjorie Austin, who suffered a heart attack after a burst water pipe jet sent her flyingMarjorie Austin, who suffered a heart attack after a burst water pipe jet sent her flying
Marjorie Austin, who suffered a heart attack after a burst water pipe jet sent her flying

"It blew her across the room. She called me and I came in to find her in a bad state and the room ankle-deep in water. I rang 999 for the fire brigade and Anchor for advice.

"Anchor told me to find the stop cock but I had already looked and couldn’t find it so they told me to go into the street and find the one for the whole block and turn that off! Can you believe it?

"By then the fire brigade had arrived and they hunted high and low for the stop cock, being forced to break things to discover it. Eventually it was located and turned off.

"But in the meantime an ambulance had come for Mum and they gave her GTN spray on the way to the hospital which is given for angina. Once she was there though, they gave her injections into their stomach and a doctor said that she had a full heart attack.

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Anchor Housing Association say they are trying to sort out Marjorie Austin's flood-damaged flat as quickly as possibleAnchor Housing Association say they are trying to sort out Marjorie Austin's flood-damaged flat as quickly as possible
Anchor Housing Association say they are trying to sort out Marjorie Austin's flood-damaged flat as quickly as possible

"She is so frail though that operating isn’t an option. Since then her dementia has very quickly got a lot worse.

"Mum has been allowed home and is a guest room although she doesn’t know what day it is.

"It took ages for Anchor to get in touch but they are now working on her flat. The flat below was also water damaged and was without electricity for two days.

"If only Anchor had logged and taken our call about the noise from the taps, all this trauma and mess could have been avoided.”

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Dawn Brown, Operations Manager for St Clement’s Court, said: “We are extremely sorry for our resident’s experience and are working hard to repair her home as quickly as possible.

"We have offered the guest room at St Clement’s Court while repairs take place and are making good the damage to the property and looking into its cause.

"The wellbeing of our residents is paramount, and we will continue to provide all the support we can at this difficult time.”

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