A couple who needs to have their heating on, due to the wife's health, is being forced to prioritise the rising costs of their energy bill over any other bills. Gary and Natasha Waterhouse need to have the heating on at all times because Natasha has a spinal cord tumour, located in such a position that it now affects her body's ability to regulate temperature.
Her condition means extreme levels of cold and heat cause her pain. Gary also has his own health problems, he has a sleeping disorder called sleep apnea, which means his breathing stops and starts repeatedly.
The condition can have some very serious consequences. At night he uses a CPAP machine, a specialist piece of equipment that provides air at a pressure high enough to stop a person's airway from collapsing.
