• Make a contribution
  • Get the Print Edition
  • Sign up for our daily newsletter
Friday, July 18, 2025
  • Login
Reading Today Online
  • HOME
  • YOUR AREA
    • All
    • Caversham
    • Central Reading
    • East Reading
    • Katesgrove
    • Reading
    • Southcote & Coley
    • Tilehurst & Norcot
    • Whitley

    Reading conference showcases waste and recycling best practice

    Fire Service taking applications for new cadets for new academic year

    Reading Festival 2025: Indie artists worth catching when the festival returns this summer

    Only The Poets herald a new era with free show in Reading

    Thames Hospice announces Katherine Horler OBE as new chair of the board of trustees

    South East ranks second best region for proximity to public toilets

    Sue Ryder Starlight Hike returns this October

    Sue Ryder Starlight Hike returns this October

    Masked men armed with weapons rob store in Reading

    Reading ranks 12th best in dropping carbon emissions after 57% reduction in nearly twenty years

  • COMMUNITY
  • READING FC
  • SPORT
    • All
    • Basketball
    • Football
    • Rugby

    Reading FC in advanced talks to sign Nottingham Forest winger Josh Bowler

    Reading FC will find it tough to replicate ‘sensational’ season according to EFL pundit

    ‘We have a special season upon us’: Reading FC fans enjoy open day at Bearwood Park

    Yakou Meite teases fans over possible Reading FC return with latest social media post

    Racing star Bobby extends his championship lead with another race win

    Trialists revealed, including Wales international, as potential signings feature in Reading FC pre-season friendly

    Former Reading FC favourite to sign for Championship team

    Reading FC forward given ultimatum over future at the club

    Former Reading FC striker Andy Carroll joins new club in England after leaving France

  • ENTERTAINMENT
    • ARTS
    • READING FESTIVAL
    • READING PRIDE
    • WOKINGHAM FESTIVAL
  • PRIDE OF READING
  • OBITUARIES
  • JOBS
  • ADVERTISE
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Reading Today Online
No Result
View All Result
Home Featured

Reading mum’s health at risk due to mouldy flat

Guest Contributor by Guest Contributor
Tuesday, October 18, 2022 6:11 am
in Featured, Reading
A A
Keron Porter and his mother at the mould stricken flat in Reading. Picture: Local Democracy Reporting Service

Keron Porter and his mother at the mould stricken flat in Reading. Picture: Local Democracy Reporting Service

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

A READING Mum says her flat is so badly stricken with mould it is threatening her health – and her son says doctors warned she may have to be put into a medically induced coma.

Debbie Davis has black mould growing at her home in Saxon Court, a block of flats in Rupert Street.

The 63-year-old suffers with COPD a breathing condition that requires her to use an inhaler. She fears the mould is making her illness worse and says medics agree.

Saxon Court is managed by the Stonewater Housing Association which has attempted to resolve the issue. Any attempts at a resolution have so far failed, leaving Ms Davis with mould growing throughout the property and constant damp.

Ms Davis said: “I’ve told housing this place is going to kill me, and a week later I was rushed into hospital.

“They told my children I wouldn’t make it.”

Related posts

47-year-old woman arrested after two pedestrians die in road traffic collision in Caversham

Boy, 15, left with broken jaw after being attacked by three teenagers in Reading

Police release CCTV of man in relation to assault in Reading

Man and woman jailed for GBH, fraud and robbery in Reading, including assault on a man in his 80s

Her son, Keron Porter, 41, said: “Me and my brother and sister were the first ones there [in hospital].

“The doctor told us if mum doesn’t get better within 24 hours they’re going to have to put her into a medically induced coma.

“That was a point where everyone thought their lives were collapsing around them.

“Mum is the backbone of the family. That in itself was devastating.”

Ms Davis was in hospital for eight days after admission in August, and was most recently admitted on Sunday, October 9. She has since returned home.

Photos taken by Mr Porter show the home’s walls and skirting boards covered with mould.

Ms Davis lives there with her partner Richard Easton, 52.

“You can put a pair of shoes under the bed in two weeks its covered in green mould. We can’t live like this, it’s not fair,” Mr Easton said.

The couple use single plug sockets in each room as damp has made other sockets unusable.

Mr Porter supplied a medical note from a Dr Yvonne West, respiratory consultant who treated his mum. The note mentions aspergillosis, which is a condition that causes respiratory problems as a result of inhaling mould.

While it is not dangerous to healthy people, it can be for those with lung conditions like Ms Davis.

Dr West wrote that viewing Mr Porter’s photos she could see the mould is “quite extensive, and may well be driving her lung disease”.

She has supplied antibiotics and steroids, but Dr West concluded Ms Davis’ condition would likely deteriorate due to her living in a mouldy flat.

Stonewater has attempted to resolve the issue by conducting damp mould injection work. However, the tenants say the mould has since re-appeared.

Ms Davis said: “I’ve been trying for years to get out of here, because of the damp, because of my illness.

“I can’t walk to the kitchen and back without being out of breath.”

The pair have made attempts to move away from the property but are unclear whether the move needs to be arranged by Stonewater or Reading Borough Council.

Ms Davis said she’s being sent “back and forth” between the two, and does have a bid with the council.

Mr Porter, who lives in Bracknell, said: “In the time of mum bidding she could be dead, it could take another six to 12 months to find a property they accept her on.

“They’re basically pushing mum from pillar to post. If I’m honest, mum is housed with Stonewater, so it should be them.”

The family understands that Ms Davis could move to Bracknell, or to a property in Whitley close to her daughter. However, these moves would need to be arranged by local authorities.

A Reading Borough Council spokesman said the responsibility for Saxon Court and Ms Davis’ housing lies with Stonewater.

A Stonewater spokesman said: ‘We’re really sorry to hear about Mr Porter’s mother’s experience and are working hard to put things right.

“The original leak has been fixed but unfortunately the remedial work to rectify the damage caused isn’t up to the standards we expect.

“We have already planned to return on October 25 to complete a full electrical check and then again on the October 28, when we have a day allocated to treat any mould present and complete the necessary redecoration.

“In the longer term, we share Mr Porter’s concerns about on-going issues at Saxon Court.

“Our repairs team are in the process of doing a thorough review to better

understand how we can identify patterns and likely causes of future leaks.

“Through improving our knowledge and planned maintenance we hope to avoid recurring problems in future, and the associated distress we know this causes.”

Keep up to date by signing up for our daily newsletter

We don’t spam we only send our newsletter to people who have requested it.

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Tags: bracknellinhalerrdgukreadingreading borough councilreading newsreading ukwhitley
Previous Post

Attempted break-in in Redlands

Next Post

Burglar breaks into Tilehurst home

FOLLOW US

POPULAR STORIES

  • 47-year-old woman arrested after two pedestrians die in road traffic collision in Caversham

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Former Reading FC striker Andy Carroll joins new club in England after leaving France

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Reading FC forward given ultimatum over future at the club

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Championship club close in on signing Reading FC defender Amadou Mbengue

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Masked men armed with weapons rob store in Reading

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

RDG.Today – which is a Social Enterprise – provides Reading Borough with free, independent news coverage.

If you are able, please support our work

Click Here to Support RDG.Today

ABOUT US

Reading Today is dedicated to providing news online across the whole of the Borough of Reading. It is a Social Enterprise, existing to support the various communities in Reading Borough.

CONTACT US

news@wokinghampaper.co.uk

Reading Today Logo

Keep up to date with our daily newsletter

We don’t spam we only send our newsletter to people that have subscribed

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

The Wokingham Paper Ltd publications are regulated by IPSO – the Independent Press Standards Organisation.
If you have a complaint about a  The Wokingham Paper Ltd  publication in print or online, you should, in the first instance, contact the publication concerned, email: editor@wokingham.today, or telephone: 0118 327 2662. If it is not resolved to your satisfaction, you should contact IPSO by telephone: 0300 123 2220, or visit its website: www.ipso.co.uk. Members of the public are welcome to contact IPSO at any time if they are not sure how to proceed, or need advice on how to frame a complaint.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • HOME
  • MY AREA
    • Central Reading
    • East Reading
    • Bracknell
    • Calcot
    • Caversham
    • Crowthorne
    • Earley
  • COMMUNITY
  • SPORT
    • Reading FC
    • Football
    • Rugby
    • Basketball
  • ENTERTAINMENT
    • ARTS
    • READING FESTIVAL
    • READING PRIDE
    • WOKINGHAM FESTIVAL
  • PRIDE OF READING
  • OBITUARIES
  • JOBS
  • ADVERTISE
  • CONTACT US
  • SUPPORT US
  • SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER
  • WHERE TO GET THE PRINT EDITION

© 2021 - The Wokingham Paper Ltd - All Right Reserved.