It should never have taken a child to die for change to happen. But the death of Awaab Ishak, following prolonged exposure to mould during a period of inaction from social landlord Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH), has been described as a 'defining moment'.
His family described how they were 'left feeling absolutely worthless' as they tried to get their mould issue resolved. Their 'beautiful' two-year-old boy regularly suffered with 'coughing fits' and symptoms which worsened in the final weeks of his life.
By the time Awaab had died in December 2020, a council inspector found that the property was unfit for human habitation without repair. Awaab's family said: "There were days we wouldn't be able to take Awaab out of the house because of how bad his coughing was - but of course by him staying in the house, this made his coughing worse. We were absolutely trapped.
