A disabled woman was left lying on ice for 20 minutes after slipping while collecting her bin that was 'carelessly' dumped in the wrong place. Philomena McCallum, 63, who has spina bifida, polio and severe arthritis, was forced to crawl back into her bungalow in Stretford after her fall.
Her son, Robert, 34, said: "It was during the cold snap and she was lying on the ice for 20 minutes before finally managing to crawl back into the house. I was livid.”
Philomena gets ‘assisted bin collections’ because of her condition, meaning her bins should be emptied and replaced inside the grounds of her bungalow. Robert said that over the last four years the green bin is often left halfway up the path, meaning she has struggled to retrieve it herself.
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“For an able-bodied person this would be no problem, as it is only a few yards from her back door,” said Robert, a former care worker, who lives in Leigh. “But for my mum this is an enormous distance for her put the bin back where it should be.
“We’ve been complaining about it for years, but just keeps on happening.” Robert said it was ‘the final straw’ when before Christmas the bin was left in the wrong place again.
“What I always feared would happen actually did happen,” he said. “The bin was left halfway up the path and when my mum went to retrieve it, she fell."
Philomena said she did not require any medical treatment or an ambulance as a result of her fall, but the experience had ‘frightened’ her.
Philomena told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I’ve complained so many times the call handlers know it is me as soon as we speak on the phone." And she quipped: “I thought I might get an invite to their Christmas do.”
A spokesperson for the One Trafford Partnership said: “We apologise to the resident on the assisted collection, whose green bin has not been returned properly by the crew. We pride ourselves on supporting those who need extra help, and are disappointed that the assisted collection service has fallen short of what our residents expect.
"We were made aware of the complaint relating to the green bin not being returned properly on December 9, and a waste supervisor visited on December 15 to discuss this with the resident. The green bin collection crew have been briefed as to where to leave the bin and the waste supervisor has shared their contact details with the resident, should any other issues arise.
“Residents on an assisted collection are encouraged to get in touch, if their bins are not returned properly. This will allow our waste team to identify the problem and put it right. Residents can tell us about their bins not being returned properly, by visiting www.trafford.gov.uk/report-it.”
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