Pub staff send emergency plumber to help freezing OAP

Dec 23 2010 by Chris Clements, Hamilton Advertiser

A BLIND grandmother was spared from the winter chill after a local pub organised a central heating repair for her.

Helen Seal (72) was left shivering after the severe weather and an asbestos scare delayed a kitchen renovation and knocked out her heating.

As temperatures outside plunged to -14C, the Blantyre gran was left shivering in shawls at her Glasgow Road home.

However, during the nearby Parkville Hotel’s ‘Helping Hands’ initiative, a volunteer delivered a free hot meal to the pensioner and was so concerned about Helen’s situation he contacted the pub, who then sent a plumber to sort out a problem with her boiler.

Mrs Seal said she had been left isolated by the sudden cold snap but added: “My carers came to see me three times a day and helped me and I have my cat and my dog to keep me company.

“A firm had come to lift my flooring to re-do my kitchen and it was then they found some asbestos under the floorboards so a lot of the fittings were placed in my living room and the kitchen was sealed off. It isn’t ideal as, when you can’t see, you really need to know what is round about you.

“It all came to a head when my central heating failed. I ended up sitting with my fur hat and coat on, just to keep warm. The company that were supposed to be working on the kitchen couldn’t get to me due to the snow and a job that should have taken a few days at the most lasted weeks.”

She added: “My carers also tried to get me help through the council.

“Because of the bad weather, I was out of reach from all of my family but the Parkville Hotel were doing the deliveries of hot meals, which was fantastic.

“A man called Richard Cameron was delivering a free meal to me one day and he saw the state I was in over the problem.”

Linda McGaw, the manager at the Parkville, said: “We were told that Mrs Seal was left sitting in the living room, wrapped in shawls, with a lot of the kitchen equipment, waiting on the heating coming back on.

“She is blind so she isn’t really able to do many things for herself, so we sent her hot food over.

“I think she had been waiting to get her boiler repaired for a couple of days. The helper who attended had returned back here in disgust at the situation she was in.

“We found it sickening so we organised a heating engineer.”

Pub regular and plumber Derek McDade stepped in to repair the boiler free.

Mrs Seal said: “After that, everything was OK. I felt human again.

“When my son was able to get up from England, he managed to fight my case with the firm involved in the kitchen job and now it has been done. It was hell not being able to get the heating going. My dog and cat were trembling it was that cold.

“I can’t say enough to thank the Parkville. I know they had the scheme delivering the dinners but this went above and beyond.”