An Edinburgh man has been left 'haunted' after watching his roommate 'choke' to death in council temporary accommodation.
Nicholas Bell, 39, was staying in Maple Leaf Guest House on Pilrig Street in late 2020 with around 12 others when a resident who struggled with substance abuse died on the premises.
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Pawel, who stayed next door to Nicholas, had been drinking that night and possibly ingesting chemicals from cleaning products when he collapsed and choked to death on his own sick.
Edinburgh Council confirmed that a resident in their accommodation sadly passed away on December 7, 2020.
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The harrowing incident was witnessed by a number of residents who claim they were not offered proper support after the death.
Nicholas, who stayed in the room next door to Pawel at the time told of the tragic incident, told how it affects him today.
Speaking to Edinburgh Live he said: "I woke up to a massive noise from him falling to the floor and people rushing up to his room.
"At the time we thought he had just been drinking alcohol but also cleaning liquid sprays because they also have some type of alcohol put inside them too.
"There were a number of empty cleaning liquid bottles in his room and the room was a mess.
"It took two ambulances and a paramedic to try and save him.
"Everybody was very upset with everything thats happened."
In accommodation like this Nick explained how it's common to live next door to someone without knowing too much about them, as in these circumstances most people keep to themselves.
"We never saw him use the kitchen, he would go out drinking in the park or with other Polish people he knew but he was very under nourished like something out of a war movie.
"He was a very polite person, who seemed lost and failed by the system.
"Pawel was his name and he was a lovely person but needed help just like me now and still I'm being failed" he said.
After suffering trauma throughout his life, the harrowing experience Nicholas went through still haunts him today.
"I went really down hill after that and I'm still processing what happen and still what was going on and thinking why has this happened to me?," he said.
"Why hasn't anybody from the Edinburgh Council been in contact with me because seeing someone choke to death is a big deal but not to them.
"It's just another number a statistic on the death of males due to alcohol abuse.
"I had to sleep in that room that night and the smell on that hallway was disgusting. It was three days before it was cleaned up" he added.
The 39-year-old described the environment of temporary accommodation B&B he was staying in when Pawel sadly died.
He explained: "It was a crazy environment to be around and especially when you have disabilities and health conditions too.
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"I saw a lot of incident's and thought these people need to be in a secure unit with specialist support because they have been failed numerous times and had complex mental health issues.
"After seeing someone choke to death I stayed in my bedroom.
"I was in contact with some charities and I was chasing up my housing officer who left her position, I was in shock and distress.
A City of Edinburgh Council spokesperson said: “We can confirm that one of our residents sadly passed away while staying at this B&B.”
