Mother fears mould-ridden home will harm son's health

A mother living in a damp home fears what may happen this winter after she claims an outbreak of mould caused chest problems for her son and meant he was unable to walk across the living room without stopping for breath.

- DAN HAYGARTH

Tracy Manley, 59, has lived in her home for 27 years but discovered it had a problem with mould around three years ago. She said it began with dampness around the windows before she noticed that items stored in the airing cupboard in her son’s bedroom were becoming damp.

Ms Manley, who is unemployed, receives personal independence payments (PIP) and rents her semidetached house from Bristol council. She decided to empty that cupboard, but she believes doing so disturbed the mould, which then affected the health of her 31-year-old son, who asked not to be named.

“When we stripped the bedding last winter, he became ill and had to go on antibiotics,” Ms Manley told The Independent. “There was a rattling on his chest. We went to the doctors, and first of all, they said it was clear, but then he had trouble with his breathing.”

Ms Manley added: “He couldn’t walk across the living room without stopping for breath. It was a serious chest infection, and it was really bad. The doctor put him on a course of antibiotics for around 10 days.”

“It was a case of when it (the mould) was disturbed that was the problem. You were disturbing the mould and then breathing in that disturbance. It was a bit scary - we hadn’t considered that possibility.”

Photographs of her home taken last winter that Ms Manley shared with