A new mother with a serious spinal condition that causes her pain when going up and down stairs told yesterday of her struggles with the council to get her family moved to a ground floor property.
Katie Collie, 35, and Phil Maher , 33, welcomed their little daughter Megan to the world 17 weeks ago, and the family live together in a first floor council flat in Kincorth.
But Katie, who suffers from spondylolisthesis, a condition where a vertebra moves out of position and causes severe back pain, said she appealed to Aberdeen City Council for a home more suitable to her needs last year during her pregnancy.
She has been waiting ever since.
Miss Collie said she has received medical advice that she should not be living anywhere but a ground floor property with as few steps as possible.
She said: “It’s now come to the point where I can’t get my daughter into the flat by myself because I can’t carry her up and down the stairs.
“Even little things like doing shopping for my family are almost impossible, because it means carrying all the bags up the stairs, and if Phil is not here and I can’t get someone else to help I’m stuck.”
Miss Collie said the council offered her family a flat in Torry – but it was also up a flight of stairs.
She added: “I told them that I just can’t do first floors, it might not seem like a lot but I really can’t handle more than a couple of steps, but they said that’s what’s been offered.
“We were told there are plenty of properties and we won’t have to wait long, but our daughter is now 17 weeks old, and we asked to be moved out when I was three months pregnant.
Mr Maher said: “Getting a ground floor would give Katie her life back – it would help her confidence and really improve her mental state.”
A spokesman for Aberdeen City Council said: “The health and wellbeing of tenants is a priority for the council, and all properties are offered on the basis of assessed needs.
“It would not be appropriate to comment on individual cases.”
