A mum forced to carry her severely disabled son up and down two flights of stairs daily has slammed her local council.
Gary and Mary Rogerson’s youngest child Reece, seven, is unable to walk by himself and needs 24-hour care from his parents and older siblings Courtney, 15, and Raith, 16.
He has cerebral palsy and a hydrocortisone deficiency which affects hormones crucial to his overall health, the Daily Record reports.
His mum has to carry the youngster, who weighs eight stone, up and down the stairs every time they want to leave their upstairs property.
Last week Courtney posted footage on Facebook showing the struggle Mary, 53, has in doing that.
The video, which has gained than 100,000 views, shows Reece lying over Mary’s shoulders while she struggles to negotiate the 13 stairs at their front door.
And Reece’s parents, from Plains, Scotland, have slammed North Lanarkshire Council as they believe the council has failed their disabled son.
The couple, who own their home, say the council has offered to pay £20,000 towards renovations including a stairlift and a wet room.
But the pair are adamant the authority should cover the whole £26,000 cost because they say delays in finding a long-term housing solution for Reece have resulted in them using all their savings.
North Lanarkshire Council, however, insists they have offered the family full support.
Mary said: “Gary and I bought this house from the council in 1999 to provide for our family but we didn’t know Reece would be born like this.
“Because our home was unsuitable for Reece’s needs we moved into a rented property on Kintyre Crescent four years ago and were told an extension containing a bedroom and a wet room would be built onto the house at ground level.
"This meant we’d then sell our home and be able to live there.
“But there was delay after delay for more than a year and we were paying rent, a mortgage and double council tax because our own property was empty.
“Waiting so long for renovations crippled us financially and we were left with no option but to move back to our own home.”
Because of this Mary and Gary say the council should cover the complete cost of the adaptations as opposed to 80 per cent.
Mary added: “We can’t afford that because the extension they initially promised never went ahead.
“The only solution is for the council to pay for the adjustments or for them to find us a suitable home.”
Gary, 49, who works as a refuse collector, added: “Mary and I are getting on age-wise. As Reece grows and we get older it will be harder to take care of him without the proper facilities he needs.
"We need to know he’ll be okay and provided for when we’re not here.
“The council’s social work department has been a shambles from the minute we moved to Kintyre Crescent four years ago.
“They’ve put us through hell as a family.”
Courtney said: “I wanted to let people see the way my mum has to live. It’s not fair, seeing her crying on her own because nobody is listening to our family.
“I’m happy lots of people have seen the video because maybe now the council will help us like they should have done years ago.”
A spokesperson for North Lanarkshire Council said: “Following several assessments we have offered the family our full support, including proposals to make adaptations to both their properties, one of which was rented as well as the home they own.
“Unfortunately at the last minute they declined our offer of assistance to adapt the rented home and returned to their own property.
“Works were being progressed to make internal and external adaptations to their owned home but these have recently been suspended as the family decide their future options.
“In the interim the family has been offered a manually-operated stair climber, together with assistance from a funded home care provider, but this offer has not been taken up.
“We understand that this is frustrating for everyone involved but we have continually engaged with the family to find a long-term solution and will continue to advise them of all the options available.”
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