A mum-of-two was rushed to hospital after the kitchen ceiling she had complained of partially collapsed on her while she was cooking dinner.
Tracy Cordery from Mitcham, spent an agonising five-and-a-half hours in hospital on Sunday (January 9) while doctors carried out various tests on her head, shoulders and arms, where she was suffering from excruciating pain.
The 41-year-old says she previously expressed her concerns of cracks in the kitchen ceiling, but was reportedly told by her housing association, Clarion Housing that “it wasn’t an emergency.”
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Tracy lives in a Clarion property in Morden
Tracy told MyLondon: “I called them [Clarion] up and complained about it, and said the cracks are getting worse.
“They said it wasn’t an emergency and that they’ll be out on January 19 to come and have a look at it.
“Then on Sunday, I had just finished cooking my dinner, it was the last bit of dinner I was dishing out, and then it just came down on my head.”
The ceiling collapsed on Tracy while she was cooking dinner
(Image: Dawn Page)
Tracy continued: “I just froze, I didn’t know what to do. My friend was there with me and she just screamed, where she was screaming I was in so much shock, I just stood there and then another lot came down on me.
“I was okay afterwards but 10 minutes later, my neck went tight. I couldn’t move my shoulder properly.
“It was pretty scary, I’m claustrophobic as well and I had to go in lifts and machines for scans, I did find it really stressful.”
Tracy’s sister Dawn Page, another Clarion tenant, claims the reason the ceiling had cracks in it and later collapsed was because PVA [Polyvinyl Acetate] was not used to hold the plaster in place, which eventually caused bits of it to crack and fall on Tracy.
Tracy pictured in hospital
(Image: KwajoHousing/Twitter)
She explained: “The whole ceiling would have come down in the end. Not even part of it, all of it.
“I know about building work because our dad was a builder. At the end of the day, do your work correctly, and my sister wouldn’t be going through this.”
Clarion told MyLondon they have been unable to identify the root cause of the ceiling collapse, but they believe it’s most likely that a thin coat of finishing plaster came away in the isolated patch as a result of heat from the cooker underneath.
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Tracy, along with her kids and her mum, 73, had just moved into their new three-bed property on Lilleshall Road, Morden, having signed for the property on December 29.
The family were decanted from their old Clarion-owned property in Mitcham after they had complained for years of flu-like symptoms, poor sleep and body aches.
“We get so ill in that property, it was almost like we had flu-like symptoms all the time, eyes itching, eyes running, sneezing, my body aching – just feeling like crap,” Tracy explained.
With the help of social housing activist and fellow Clarion tenant, Kwajo Tweneboa, 23, the family were decanted out of their old property, where they had lived for 14 years, and moved into a new one in Morden.
The aftermath of the kitchen ceiling falling onto Tracy and the floor
(Image: KwajoHousing/Twitter)
While the family awaits further results from an independent air quality survey conducted on December 30, Tracy claimed that previous results concluded that the air quality was “really bad” in the property.
Tracy added: “Since I’ve come out of that property, I’m not getting any of the symptoms I was experiencing before and I’m sleeping better. But I’m not willing to take stuff with me until they [Clarion] tell me what’s in that property because I’m not willing to live how I was living in that property – it makes you ill.”
Tracy, who is a carer for her mum, believes “poor air quality” in the old property severely impacted her mum’s breathing, and contributed to her having to now wear a carbon monoxide mask at night and rely on oxygen during the day to help keep her alive.
Meanwhile Tracy believes her Fibromyalgia diagnosis, a condition that causes pain across the body and extreme tiredness, is also down to the poor air quality she claims was vacant in her old property.
The family have cautiously moved into their new home with very little personal belongings, and say they have left behind sentimental items and furniture from their old property because they fear it could make them ill again.
Tracy’s arm is now in a sling while she recovers
(Image: KwajoHousing/Twitter)
Tracy explained: “Everything’s been boxed up for three years, even if you go into the boxes to get anything out, it affects your eyes straight away.
“I still don’t know what’s in that property now, I haven’t been able to bring one thing. I’m living out of two tracksuits my sister [Dawn] has passed down to me and I’ve had to go out and buy myself new underwear because I can’t take nothing from the property – I’ve had to start again.”
In response to Tracy’s claims of carbon monoxide in her old property, Clarion said carbon monoxide alarms had been triggered, but that there was no carbon monoxide in the property following an investigation.
They instead suggested it was because of types of cleaning products Tracy used, however Tracy has since rejected this claim.
She said: “They just don’t care about people’s lives and what it’s doing to people, they really don’t.
“I still have to care and cook for mum, I’m trying not to use my arm as much because when I do use it, it’s hurting me.
“I shouldn’t be going through this. I cannot have them [Clarion] treat me like this anymore and the situation they’ve put me in.
“Even starting from that flat, they’ve taken no notice of me, and now they’ve done this to me.”
The family is seeking legal action.
Tracy’s sister, Dawn (pictured) says PVA was not used to help hold the plaster in place
(Image: Dawn Page)
Clarion told MyLondon a surveyor will be visiting to re-skim and redecorate the area that was affected.
A spokesperson for Clarion Housing said: “We take the reports of an injury and damage to a Clarion home extremely seriously. One of our operatives visited the home at the first possible opportunity on Monday to assess the situation and check on the welfare of the resident.
“Our operative confirmed the ceiling did not collapse. A small amount of the lightweight 2/3 millimetre skim plaster has come away from the ceiling and a photo has been provided to MyLondon as evidence of this.
“We are still establishing all the facts of the case, but as yet, no medical evidence has been provided to suggest the resident sustained any injury as a result of the events of Sunday evening.”
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