A grieving family are facing homelessness after their father's death following a battle with terminal cancer. A young mum and her four children were told to leave their home not long after the father passed.
Sarah Ryan, 36, says her partner, Michael Grey, was diagnosed last year with retroperitoneal sarcoma, which is a rare type of cancer. The father was informed by medical professionals that the illness would be terminal, reports Manchester Evening News.
Sarah said: "He started having hip pain in July last year but when he went to the doctors they did blood tests but they were normal." They thought it might be IBS so gave him a CT scan which revealed he had a tumour that was 16.5cm in length.
"It had already killed one of his kidneys and doctors were unable to operate. After his second round of chemotherapy they did another scan and it showed that the tumour had doubled and he had months to live.
"I was looking after four kids whilst being his carer." Michael sadly passed away on August 23 2022, leaving behind his devastated family.
However, that was not to be the only blow to the grieving collective as they were soon evicted from their joint owned property. Sarah claims on the day of her partner's funeral she received a letter from the joint owner of the house informing her of even further devastating news.
After attending a court hearing at Manchester Civil Justice Centre earlier this month, the mum was told she has 28 days to vacate the property. Sarah said: "We are homeless."
"The stress of it all is making me ill. My mental health is deteriorating and my son has learning difficulties so he's really struggling.
"I have spoken to Tameside Council and they are so backlogged that I won't be on the system for months. They are saying I'll likely have to be placed in an emergency hotel with no cooking facilities where I could stay for up to two years.
"I've got Christmas coming up and three of my children's birthdays are in December. There are days at the moment where I can't even get out of bed because my mental health is so bad.
"I've not even had a chance to grieve for my partner because I'm so concerned about my children. It's likely we'll be staying in an emergency hotel this Christmas."
A spokesperson for Tameside Council said: "The Council works hard to prevent homelessness and the earlier we are informed of issues the more we can do to help. In cases where the courts are involved, we ask for copies of the court documents so that we can assess if there are any steps that can be taken to appeal or delay the eviction date.
"We will provide all the support we can and Welfare Rights will also provide support and representation. The options we can offer in such cases include negotiating with the existing landlord, help to secure alternative private rented accommodation and advice on applying to registered providers.
"Where the Council is not able to help using these tools, then the applicant has a statutory right to make a homeless application. In some circumstances, the Council does use B&B accommodation though there would always be a suitability assessment to ensure it is suitable for the applicant and their family.
"At the moment in Tameside, B&B use is minimal and applicants are either being offered self-contained Temporary Accommodation at the point of application, or where B&B is used, the stay is below 4 weeks."
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