Jack Lynam (53), from Coolock, Dublin, had both legs amputated last year after he developed a rare blood disorder, Antiphospholipid syndrome.
He had been admitted to Beaumont hospital in January 2014 suffering serious blood clots in his legs, a feature of the condition and the double amputation was necessary to save his life.
While recovering, he developed a serious Grade 4 infection from bedsores around his lower back and posterior region, which again threatened his life and required surgery to remove the aggressive infection from his muscle mass and bones.
Having survived all this, and having been in hospital for 10 months, he and his wife Frances last October applied to their landlord, Dublin City Council, to have their small council house adapted to accommodate Jack in his wheelchair.
The couple have four children, the youngest of whom, Shauna (14) still lives at home with them.
Downstairs is a small kitchen and living room while upstairs are three bedrooms and a small bathroom.
An occupational therapist’s report for the council said he would not be able to access the upstairs part of the house.
“Therefore I am recommending downstairs accommodation – an extension to the rear of the house consisting of bedroom and bathroom with level access shower as this will meet his long-term needs and ensure his safety. I don’t feel it is appropriate for Mr Lynam to sleep in the only livingroom within the house as he has a young daughter who will need to avail of this space.”
The council approved the application, categorising it “high medical priority”.
However, the family has been told that, due to “the volume of extensions, both in hand and on the waiting list to commence”, there would be a two-year wait and work would not begin on the extension until 2017.
In the interim, the council is suggesting he sleep in the livingroom, and he access the upstairs bathroom using a stair-lift, or that he use a commode.
No dignity
“I can’t do that,” he says, sitting by his hospital bed in Beaumont. “There is no dignity in that. My daughter needs to be able to use the livingroom and those commodes can smell very bad.”
He also points to the original occupational therapy report, which says: “The provision of a stair lift and adaptations to existing bathroom will not suffice as these will require him to complete several slide-transfers – from wheelchair to stair-lift and back to wheelchair. Due to limited upper-body strength it is likely he will find this extremely tiring and is at risk of falls.”
The report refers to “great risk of injury due to space constraints within the bathroom and landing”.
He begins six weeks of intensive rehabilitation this week, learning to use prosthetic legs. He tried them last week and took his first steps.
“I was over the moon,” he smiles, “but all the stress of not knowing whether I can go home after the rehab, it takes the good out of it. It is a lot of stress for Frances. We thought we had been through the worst with the double amputation and the infection. But this stress, we never expected this. We’re human beings.”
A spokeswoman said Dublin City Council couldn't comment on an individual's case.
“The City Council will always work with the tenant and their occupational therapist in so far as is possible to facilitate the applicant in returning home.”
She said the length of time an applicant is waiting varied and was dictated by the level and availability of funding and the scale of the project.
