A grandmother-of-five said her landlord allowed mould in her home got so bad she ended up in a COMA.
Lisa Ives, 46, was left an hour from death after contracting pneumonia that reduced her to crawling around on her hands and knees.
Lisa was found in her flat looking like “she had just come out of a coffin”, after coming down with the potentially fatal illness.
She now lives with her daughter, Melanie Davis, after spending two weeks in a coma in hospital.
Melanie said paramedics told her her mum could have died if they had just been an hour later.
Melanie said: “It was frightening. Doctors told us it was touch and go.
“They said the mould would have contributed to the pneumonia.
“I just kept thinking the worst.”
It had taken Lisa 15 minutes to answer the door and she had to take a bucket everywhere with her because she kept being sick.
Lisa was diagnosed with pneumonia in both lungs after reaching Hull General Infirmary, East Yorks., on May 10 and had to undergo two blood transfusions.
Lisa said: “I started getting a ruckling feeling in my chest, a feeling I couldn’t get rid of.
“I just remember leaving the flat, and I don’t remember anything until I woke up 10 days later.
“It was frightening when I realised what had happened.
“I had heard things about what mould can do but I never thought it could kill me. I never thought it could happen to me.”
Lisa first contacted letting agents, Higson Homes, in October after complaining about “disgusting” mould appearing on her walls.
The agency told Lisa to bleach the walls and they installed a ventilator in a bid to quell the mould, however the mildew kept growing.
Lisa said: “It was black, it had what looked like little cauliflowers coming out of the wall, and it stank like sick or pee.
“Even lettuce left on the side got wet. The furniture was wet, I’d open drawers and it would be full of mould.
“I lost pretty much everything because of it.”
Lisa said Environmental Health also visited her flat in Hull and repeated the advice of cleaning her walls with bleach and installing more ventilators.
Joni Pearson, owner of Higson Homes, confirmed Lisa had reported the damp in her home.
She said: “On my inspection it was clear the property had a severe case of condensation due to lack of ventilation.
“We instructed a damp specialist to visit the property who confirmed it was a condition issue due to lack of ventilation. He educated the tenant on how to reduce this and advised the owner to fit an extractor fan in the kitchen which he agreed to.
“Also in the property above was a leak from a condensation pipe causing penetrating damp.
“The pipe was fixed and the wall dried out quickly.”
Ms Pearson said the landlord was responsible for paying for repairs and Higson Home hadn’t been responsible for the property since March.
She added that the firm hasn’t received a formal complaint from Lisa or any medical evidence that the pneumonia was caused by the mould.
She said: still have no paperwork from the hospital to support the accusations made from Lisa to say her health was affected due to the damp issue in the property and not her ‘lifestyle’.”
