The family of a Dublin man who is battling cancer is pleading for help to fix rampant sewage issues at his home.
Pat Byrne explained that her brother Thomas, 67, has lost his tongue through cancer and he is this week having an urgent operation that could leave him highly susceptible to getting infections, especially if he returns to his flat at Pearse House in south inner city Dublin which has sewage and waste water outside his door.
Speaking to Dublin Live, Pat said: "It's as simple as fixing the drain pipe that comes down and Dublin City Council won't fix it. Thomas is back in hospital and he's so open to infection, he has no tongue from having cancer.
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"He is completely open to infection, but every time you walk in you can't walk in the hall door without walking on sewage and dragging it inside with you."
According to Pat, her brother Thomas has lived at Pearse House for at least 15 years and the sewage issues at his flat have been going on for "several months" since before the good weather this summer. "The only thing he could do was sit outside, it's a one bedroom flat and he lives on his own he's a widower. He used to sit outside on the chair just watching people going by was the only company he had really.
"Now he can't even do that anymore because he can't even sit outside because of the sewage." Pat claims that different people from the council have come out to look at the flat but the pipe has not yet been fixed. She said: "We just seem to be hitting a brick wall with the council, we're hoping that something will be done about it."
Pat's brother Thomas first had an operation three years ago on his tongue after it was discovered that he had cancer of the mouth. "It was desperate, he got cancer of the mouth when they went in it was all in his tongue, he didn't realise and we didn't realise that he would lose his tongue and he'll never be able to speak again.
"He is peg-fed so he can't eat and he can't drink, it's horrendous. So that's what really annoys me, that the only thing he could do was just sitting out at the door and that's gone now. We are hoping that the council will help us and get it resolved as soon as possible," added Pat.
In a statement to Dublin Live, a spokeswoman for Dublin City Council said: "Dublin City Council does not deal with maintenance requests via the media and will not discuss specific cases for privacy reasons.
"Dublin City Council has a clearly outlined policy for all tenants to report maintenance queries and deals with all issues in as efficient manner as possible. If tenants have issues with the timeframe for repairs they should contact their Local Area Housing Office who will be happy to provide an update."
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