‘I’ve been trapped in my home for years’

A wheelchair-bound widow who suffered catastrophic life-threatening injuries after a fall is still waiting to be rehoused three years later, despite being told by medics that she was a high priority. Denise O’Toole, 58, spent 10 months in hospital - including five weeks in a coma - after plummeting down a staircase at her home in Tonbridge, breaking her back, neck, breastbone and suffering severe head trauma. She was eventually discharged from the rehab centre at specialist Stoke Mandeville Hospital with an assessment of her housing needs and was told by her housing association landlord that suitable accommodation would be found as soon as possible.

But with a severe lack of suitable places available, Denise is still stuck in her property. She says she feels “trapped” because she can’t get her wheelchair down the steps at either the back or front of the two-bedroom semi in Tonbridge by herself. Her husband, Michael, has since died and the trauma of losing him is exacerbated as she is unable to visit his grave at a nearby cemetery without help.



The mother of three said the lack of adaptations to meet her disabilities, including a wet room and accessibility to household appliances, had led to a relapse in the six-month treatment she had received at the specialist hospital. The grandmother of four said: “All the hard work I did has been for nothing. I was as independent as I could be at Stoke Mandeville and felt positive when I came out.

“But my legs now lack strength, and I need physio. I am back on their waiting list. “I need to move.

I’m a prisoner in my own home.” Denise has lived in Trench Road for 26 years and is a long-term tenant of Clarion Housing Association. A Clarion spokesman said: “We recognise the challenges Ms O’Toole continues to face following her injuries and we remain in regular contact to support her in finding a new home that better meets her needs.

“Ms O’Toole currently holds the highest level of priority on Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council’s housing list, but due to the significant pressures on social housing availability, securing a suitable property has taken longer than hoped. “We remain committed to working in partnership with the council to help identify a suitable property as quickly as possible and continue to offer support to Ms O’Toole throughout this process.” Denise’s harrowing ordeal started on April 17, 2022, after she lost her footing and fell from the top of the steep staircase where a stair lift had been installed for her poorly husband two days before.

The occupational therapy teams at Stoke Mandeville said that having the lift was a factor in allowing her to return home. Michael, 72, who had been diagnosed with dementia, raised the alarm and she was airlifted to King’s College Hospital in London. She said: “I remember not having any feeling in my legs, and then I must have passed out.

“My next recollection was being in the hospital with my family at my bedside. “I was told I had life-threatening injuries and probably would not walk again.” Just before she was discharged in December 2022, she was told that her husband had contracted sepsis and had been admitted to hospital.

She said: “At the time, there was too much going on and the focus was not about moving.” Michael, her husband of 25 years, died at their home in October last year. Since then, while still in mourning, Denise has become increasingly anxious to find an alternative one-bedroom property and has made numerous calls to the Clarion team, who have told her she’s on the high-priority list.

She said: “My physical and mental health has suffered. I’m now receiving counselling and am on antidepressants. “The fire brigade has visited to do a safety assessment and said if there was a fire, they would only have seven minutes to get me out, which scares me.

“I need to get my life back. I do not have a life. “I have been a good tenant for 26 years; I feel I have been really let down.

” A spokesman for Clarion said Ms O’Toole was in Band A on the local authority’s housing waiting list. He said: “Rehousing under medical needs sits with the local authority but we are working with the tenant to support her where we can. ”We have previously offered a viewing at our Frome Court supported housing scheme but this property was also not suitable for the resident’s complex needs.

“Our Neighbourhood Response Officer has been regularly engaging with Ms O’Toole, including making a recent safeguarding referral in response to welfare concerns. “A property currently being queried by Ms O’Toole has been passed to the local authority for advertising. “Our regional housing lead is actively following up with the council to clarify the status and will ensure Ms O'Toole is kept informed.

” Tonbridge and Malling council was approached for a comment..