A wheelchair-bound woman says she has been trapped in her home for five years because the lift installed in her home is too small to fit her chair.
Michelle Phillips, 51, from Davenport, Stockport, uses the wheelchair to aid her severe health issues, which stops her from bending one of her knees. The council installed a lift to assist her needs, however, it isn't long enough to fit both her and her chair inside. As a result, she has been confined to the upstairs of her privately owned property for a staggering 1,827 days.
She decided to mark the unusual anniversary by placing a sign, with the number of days she had been stuck inside on her upstairs window. The former nursery worker highlighted her misery with balloons on the outsde. The 51-year-old explained that her previous lift worked for several years and helped her maintain her independence. But when it malfunctioned, a new one was put in, funded by a disabled facilities grant, but it turned out to be the wrong size.
As she has to keep her left leg out straight, the lift is around 15cm too short. She marked the five-year anniversary on Friday and said the decorations give her a feeling of contact with the outside world as passers-by ponder her situation. Michelle, who survived a stroke, will soon need hospital treatment. She's worried her health will deteriorate if the problem isn't solved soon and is pleading for help.
Michelle has placed the amount of days she has been trapped on her window (ABNM Photography)"I've lost five years of life that I'll never get back," Michelle said. "I've fought and fought to get out of here. I've done everything I can. I've phoned lift companies. I've had 16 people in this room for a meeting, but I haven't managed to get out." It's not that I want anybody to pay for it, my late parents will pay for it, but I just now can't find a lift company that will do a commissioned lift - and that's what I need."
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"We've gone as far as looking abroad to try and find one. We nearly got one with a company, but they were out of England and they would have had to take over 24 hours if the lift broke down. I've been trapped in my lift many times, so we need a call out in four to six hours and they couldn't offer that and they couldn't do the electrics."
The lift isn't long enough to fit Michelle and her chair in as she cannot bend her left leg (ABNM Photography)Stockport council said it couldn't comment on individual cases, but said it encouraged people contact them to discuss issues - or if their needs change - so it can support them, reports Manchester Evening News. Michelle has lived in the house since December 1998 and has lived on the same street all her life. She says couldn't face moving away. Carers and a social worker have been helping her over the past five years. She was supported by her late father Stuart before he passed away in November 2020.
Michelle added: "It's hard when you have to say goodbye to your father out of a bedroom window and organise his funeral and say goodbye to him on a phone. Nobody should ever have to do that. That's the hardest thing I've ever had to do, watch his funeral service with my friends on a laptop. That killed me. I can't ever get that back. We were very close, I spoke to him three or four times a day, so being stuck in here... I will never forgive this situation for losing that opportunity."
The lift in Michelle's home is too small (ABNM Photography)"If we found a company who could help me, it would give me my life back, it would be all Christmases at once to know that I'd get out this year. I think it'd be wonderful. I need to get out this year, I have to because my health needs to be dealt with now, it's got to a serious level. I don't know what will happen if not, we try not to think, we've just got to keep going. Somewhere in this country there is a lift company and somebody would find them and they'll get in contact with me, I just pray that miracle happens. I just need a company. If anyone out there knows a company [which can help], I'd be so grateful."
Michelle says the council installed the wrong sized lift (ABNM Photography)Michelle is being supported by Stockport MP Navendu Mishra. He's been fighting for her for two years. The MP has urged anyone who may be able to help to get in touch, adding: "She faces many challenges in respect of her health and care needs, but does so with indomitable spirit and tenacity. Being confined to one room, with no access to the outside is unimaginable for most of us."
"This has been Michelle's life for five years. The lift in her home is not fit for purpose. Michelle has done her best to source a lift company to help her but now feels she needs to go public in the hope someone comes forward with a solution. It is vital Michelle is able to access hospital care and I would urge any company who thinks they could help to get in touch with my office."
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