Chance to stay in her home is priceless

Published on Friday 25 July 2008 19:54

HAVING lived happily in her semi-detached Glasgow home for over 40 years, moving was the last thing that Jean Foreman, in her late sixties, wanted to think about.

However, a triple heart bypass, arthritis, osteoporosis and a couple of painful stumbles told her something would have to change. "It had got to the stage where I sometimes had to crawl up the stairs and it was so depressing," she said. "I thought about moving, but looking at another place just brought tears to my eyes." After a visit from an occupational therapist, who assessed her situation, a stair lift was fitted to the house last summer. Bathing was also proving difficult and even with a bath chair, sitting down and getting back up was awkward. Instead there is now a walk-in shower, which has made life immeasurably more manageable. "My occupational therapist Carol has organised every single thing to make sure I'm all right" said Jean. Without these modifications, Jean said there was no way she would have been able to stay in her home.

Despite running close to five figures, the alterations to Miss Foreman's home have been carried out and paid for by the local authority, leaving her only to fund an administration fee of 50. Even having the work done was not problematic, with the stair lift taking just a day to install. Happily able to remain in her home, she simply added: "That is the most important thing to me."