The death of 2-year-old Awaab Ishak has rocked the nation with some of the most senior politicians in the country expressing their outrage that this was allowed to happen. The toddler, who 'was full of life and laughter', died after prolonged exposure to damp and mould at his Rochdale home, a coroner ruled yesterday, with the family hitting out at the housing association's 'racism' in not tackling the issue.
A statement read on behalf of Awaab's father Faisal Abdullah, who came to the UK from Sudan as an asylum seeker in 2015, and his wife Aisha Amin, who joined him in 2018, said that the couple's repeated cries for help to their housing association, Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH), fell on deaf ears as Awaab died just days after his second birthday.
"We cannot tell you how many health professionals we've cried in front and RBH staff we have pleaded to expressing concern for the conditions ourselves and Awaab have been living in. We shouted out as loudly as we could, but despite making all of those efforts, every night we would be coming back to the same problem. Nothing was changing," they said.
READ MORE: No apology, a last minute confession, massive pay rises - the housing bosses who failed Awaab Ishak
They said they felt "trapped" inside their home as Awaab's condition worsened and how, as a family, they were felt feeling "worthless". The boss of RBH, Gareth Swarbrick, is to be hauled in front of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, headed by Michael Gove, after the former Cabinet minister said it "beggared belief" that the chief executive was still in a job after this tragic case.
After what was an incredibly upsetting day for the family yesterday with much of the country learning about this awful case for the first time, the lawyer for the family of Awaab, Christian Weaver, appeared on Good Morning Britain this morning (November 16) to reiterate their pain. He emphasised that the cries for help from the family to help their deteriorating son were not acted on and even stark warnings from NHS professionals didn't bring about any change.
Mr Weaver told the show: "There’s absolutely no excuse, the reality is the family pleaded, NHS staff wrote to RBH saying ‘look there’s a young boy living at this property, there’s very bad mould, something needs to be done’.
"The overriding thing the family have been saying is we were powerless, we were screaming, crying out for help, but just nothing was being done. As you can imagine they’re distraught.
"It’s one of those cases that is challenging because you think what more could the family have actually done in that situation they just weren’t listened to."
The toddler died aged two on December 21, 2020. Following six days of evidence at Rochdale Coroners Court , coroner Joanne Kearsley concluded yesterday (November 15) that RBH - which owns and manages the Freehold estate where Awaab lived - should have carried out repairs on the property between July and December 2020 when it knew about the mould.
She said: "I'm sure I am not alone in asking how does this happen? How in the UK in 2020 does a two-year-old child die from exposure to mould in his home?"
The coroner added: “The tragic death of Awaab will and should be a defining moment for the housing sector in terms of increasing knowledge, increasing awareness and a deepening of understanding surrounding the issue of damp and mould."
The Manchester Evening News has now launched a campaign for a change in the law that would compel housing associations not to allow any other child, or anyone else, to suffer in damp and mouldy social housing. It was a tragedy that could have been prevented, should have been prevented, and should never happen again.
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