Mum can’t take her baby with a lung condition home from hospital ‘because she can’t carry its oxygen tank up three flights of stairs’
Amanda Oakey, 23, is begging her housing association to move her in time for Christmas
A MUM claims she has been prevented from taking her newborn baby home from hospital because she can’t lift the oxygen tank the child needs up to her flat.
Amanda Oakey, 23, was delighted when doctors said three-month-old Isabelle Braddock was well enough to be discharged after battling a chronic lung disease.
But she claims a nurse who visited her flat on the top floor of a housing association block said it was unsuitable because Amanda cannot carry an oxygen tank up three flights of stairs to the front door.
Amanda has begged Cheltenham Borough Homes to be rehoused. But despite having a letter from a doctor claims she has just been put on a long list with no end date in sight.
Meanwhile little Isabelle, who will soon need an operation for fluid on the brain, cannot leave Bristol's Southmead Hospital.
Desperate mum Amanda, from Cheltenham, Glos., who also has a three-year-old son Finley, said: "It would be absolutely amazing to all be together for Christmas, but I just can't see it myself.
"The nurse came around and she said that it is not ideal for a baby who needs oxygen.
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“All I want is a ground floor flat.
"It's not ideal as it is with a three-year-old and a buggy, but I just can't imagine how I would do it with a baby and an oxygen tank on top.
"She should have been home already but we are still having to go back and forward from the hospital every day.
Isabelle Braddock, who had a 30 per cent chance of survival, weighed 500g and was diagnosed with chronic lung disease when she was born on August 19.
She was treated for hydrocephalus - a condition that means fluid cannot be drained from the brain - before being moved to Gloucestershire Royal.
Amanda and her unemployed partner Nathan Braddock, 25, regularly travel by train and bus to see Isabelle in hospital, often taking three-year-old Finley.
The pair were delighted by the news she could return home - before realising their flat is unsuitable.
As soon as they found out they submitted an application in early November, but were put on the "bronze" list.
Isabelle's consultant contributed a letter to their application and they were moved up to "silver" and told to bid for properties.
Matt Ward, head of housing services at CBH, confirmed a housing application was received from Amanda on November 8.
He said: "She later provided medical guidance which suggested that her current property may not be ideal due to it being located on the second floor which could present issues when transporting an oxygen tank.”
He said the family has been assessed as in "significant housing need" and encouraged Amanda to visit the Homeseeker Plus website.
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