WHEN MY SON DIES I COULD LOSE MY HOME

Desperate mum Linda Taylor fears she could be evicted from her home when her terminally ill son dies.

Mrs Taylor needs £100,000 to adapt her home for disabled son Adam Ward-Crittle.

But she has been told that if the work is done and Adam dies, she could be forced to leave her home of 15 years.

Adam (14) has a chromosome abnormality and is severely disabled. He defied medical odds to live past the age of one but has to use a wheelchair and is fed with a bottle.

Mrs Taylor needs to adapt their home to build a lift and electric bath.

But her contract from the Acis Group housing association states they have the right to move in someone else who needs disabled facilities if Adam dies.

Mrs Taylor claims this is despite Acis’ refusal to pay towards adapting their home in Fiskerton, near Lincoln.

To make matters worse, Lincolnshire Social Services have also informed her that Adam’s respite care hours have been cut in half.

Now, the 35-year-old said she feels let down by everyone and does not know where to turn for help.

“It will be bad enough to lose my son without losing my house as well. I never want to leave here as this is my home,” she said.

Mrs Taylor has been given a quote of £100,000 for work to put in an electric bath, a lift and building extensions to Adam’s bedroom and the bathroom. She is entitled to a grant of £25,000 from West Lindsey District Council to make changes but she will have to find the rest herself.

But even if she scales down the changes to just use the grant there is no guarantee she could stay in the house if Adam dies.

“Acis will not give me a penny towards the changes and if I fund it myself then they can benefit by moving someone else in when Adam goes,” she said.

The changes to her home are badly needed. Lincolnshire Social Services took away a changing bed from the bathroom two years ago and now Mrs Taylor has to bathe Adam using a washing up bowl on the living room floor.

When she braves using the bath she uses a hoist to put him on the floor to dry him.

Adam’s step-father Steve Taylor (40) has to carry him to bed as social services also took away their stair lift.

Mrs Taylor gets help to wash Adam most days by the charity NCH but two of them struggle to manoeuvre Adam in a small bathroom.

Mrs Taylor’s sister also acts as a respite carer for Adam when she needs to take time out for herself.

Social Services have said they intend to cut her respite care from 12.5 hours a week to six which will mean just three hours of care with two helpers at a time.

They say because Adam goes to school and has NCH help the family do not need as much respite care time.

Currently, Mrs Taylor uses the respite for badly needed time out from the stresses and strains of looking after Adam. She took up scuba diving and yesterday qualified as a 20m ocean diver.

“My life is with Adam. But when he is gone I will have to get my own life and I need to meet people,” she said.

“I have loved the diving but that will have to stop.

“Adam has gone to school since he was nine so why make the changes now? No other parent gets school classed as respite care.”

A spokesman for the Acis Group said they were ‘sympathetic’ to the situation.

“We will review things on an ongoing basis and will continue to assess the needs of the family in the future if there is a change of circumstances,” he said.

“We will try to act in the best interests of the family at all times, while also considering the needs of all our disabled customers.”

A Social Services spokesman said the issue of respite care was still under review.

“We are aware of Mrs Taylor’s concerns,” she said.

“Senior managers are still examining the situation and looking at how best to meet Adam’s needs.”