Scots mum who carries wheelchair-bound daughter, 10, up to cramped flat says family 'live in hell'

A 10-year-old disabled girl unable to walk has to be carried up 15 concrete stairs to her cramped flat as her family desperately wait to be rehomed.

Kelsi Garrity lives in a two-bedroom upstairs flat on Catherine Drive in the Galston area of Ayrshire along with mum Lisa, originally from Glasgow, stepdad David Waddell and her four siblings.

The youngster was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at just two years old and suffers from a catalogue of health complications including scoliosis - the curvature of her spine - a visual impairment and chronic lung disease.

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Wheelchair-bound Kelsi is fed through a tube and regularly attends hospitals - in Glasgow and Edinburgh - for various treatments. On top of her health battle, she lives in a crowded flat with her family and has "no quality of life".

Now, her mum Lisa is calling on East Ayrshire Council to rehouse her family who have been on the housing list since November 2021.

The 36-year-old told Glasgow Live: "Kelsi can’t walk at all and has to be carried everywhere. We’ve got to take her out of her wheelchair and lift her up to take her up the stairs.

"Being lifted up and down the stairs isn’t great for her back. The scoliosis is squashing all her organs as it is and we are lifting her in positions which she shouldn’t be in.

"It’s not great in wet weather because we are having to lift her and take the chair in and she gets wet, when we take her in first the chair gets wet - it has caused her to have a few chest infections.

"She can’t go outside in the garden because it’s a lot of stress taking her up and down the stairs.

"She can’t take a proper bath because the hoist doesn’t go into the bath. We are having to lift her into the bath which is a risk because her feet could slip.

"The house in general is not big enough."

Lisa's staircase is crowded with boxes of syringes, feeding tubes and milk for Kelsi because there's no room in the flat. The busy mum sleeps in the living room with her one-year-old son while her children take the two bedrooms.

She is calling on the council to give the family a home, with at least three bedrooms, on a ground floor so that Kelsi can get in and out the property with ease.

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Kelsi is also waiting for spinal surgery due to take place in Edinburgh.

Lisa added: "There’s a risk of falling up and down the stairs when carrying her. She hasn’t got a standing frame at home, which she has at school, because there’s no room in the flat for it.

"She’s got no quality of life at home, none of my kids have. The council are aware of the situation but are not taking it in. As a mum, I’m trying hard to fight my case and I’m disgusted at their response.

"Living here is like a fishbowl and I’m scared that my daughter is going to die before they take action.

"We cannot make it a home, everything is cluttered. It’s absolute hell - there’s no other word for it."

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East Ayrshire Council confirmed that they are working with the family to find them suitable accommodation. They said that a temporary solution was discussed with the family but it was something they 'did not wish to pursue'.

Lisa explained: "It wasn't suitable as it didn't have a ramp so if would defeat the purpose of moving if we went ahead with it. The main purpose for staying within Galston is the kids are settled in nursery and we want to do what's best for all the kids."

A spokeswoman for East Ayrshire Council said: "East Ayrshire Council can confirm that a housing application was submitted by the family in November 2021, the family have been awarded the maximum number of Health and Disability Points for re-housing as well as an award of overcrowding points.

"Housing Services has been in contact with the family to discuss their housing circumstances and have been attempting to identify a suitable solution. Understandably, the family wish to remain in close proximity to their existing support network, however, identifying a property within a specific geographical area to meet the needs of the household has proved challenging.

"An interim, temporary solution was recently discussed with the family, however, this was not an option the family wished to pursue.

"Officers from both the Housing Service and Health and Social Care Partnership will continue to work with the family and do all that they can to explore, identify and offer both temporary and permanent solutions as potential property options become available."