Life

 This blog was originally set up to keep a diary of events in life while waiting for the insurance company loss adjuster to make a decision to demolish or not to demolish our home. Obviously they are seeking the cheapest option while we live in uncertainty and anxiety. 

Then life threw a wild card and Mr Campbell fell through the bannisters from a 6 -7 ft height. The spindles had been removed as they were very old, we planned to replace them but were told 3 years ago we were moving out that Spring, then the next Spring, then this Spring. We have not completed any repairs, replaced windows, decorated, bought new furniture because all of the while we are expecting to move. We do not know where we will live while the work on the house takes place. We live with stress on a daily basis and our families and friends are concerned about us. We are now in Year 8 since the beginning of the claim. 

I heard a soft thud while I was cleaning my teeth in the bathroom and ran downstairs to find him on the floor, winded, on his back with his head under the radiator. He could not move. I rang 999 and a paramedic was here within a few minutes followed by an ambulance. I put my shoes and coat on to go with him in the ambulance but was told I had to stay here as they wouldn't let me in to the hospital due to the Pandemic. I was told he had a significant injury to his neck. They put a neck support on him and whisked him away. 

Mr C had fractured 2 vertebrae in his neck. One of splinters of the fractures was 1mm from his spinal cord. He had been carrying too many things upstairs, a lazy man's load, and tripped on the rise of the stair, lost his balance and went over the top without a hand to stop himself. He had bitten through part of his tongue.

He was fitted with a Halo Brace which was screwed into his skull in some form of Victorian torture event in the hospital. He could not sleep. I could not sleep. The jacket weighed 30 lbs and the screws were tightened to 6lbs of pressure every 2 weeks. The trainee nurse did not have the strength to tighten it with the torque screwdriver, so he winced in pain as she repeatedly tried. He could feel the pressure in his back teeth. 

After 2 weeks of complete sleep deprivation I went over the side of a flat shoe due to exhaustion and my tendon snapped chipping off a piece of my ankle bone. I crawled up the stairs to bed on the Friday evening and had to carry on with everyday chores and caring for the patient. I went to A & E on the Monday. 

None of this would have happened if the insurance company had agreed to the plans that they had been given last year. The accident happened in January. His neck brace comes off next Wednesday if the scan is okay. We have been affected so much by this and the fact that we are living in a house that needs to be demolished. We do not even know if we are safe. The cracks are getting wider, there are noises of movement, cement falling, noises coming from the chimney breast in the night.

I could not do a loss adjusters job. Causing misery and anxiety to families to save cash. We should find out on the 17th of this month the decision they have made.