Man 'confined to one room for five years' after falling down stairs

Man 'confined to one room for five years' after falling down stairs The 53-year-old injured his spine in a fall at home A man left paralysed after falling down the stairs at home has spent most of the last five years confined to a single room. Jonathan Hammocks has spoken out about the “postcode lottery” of spinal injury care after finally being able to move into his own home. In April 2021, the 53-year-old from Grantham fell down the stairs and landed headfirst. He sustained a spinal cord injury in his neck, leaving him paralysed from below the neck and in need of 24-hour care. He has no bladder or bowel function and chronic nerve pain in his arms. “I woke up a few days later,” Jonathan said. “I couldn’t talk, I was rigid, couldn’t move a muscle, and was obviously scared to death.” After six weeks in hospital and six months of rehabilitation, Jonathan could not return to his previous accommodation because it was upstairs. He was instead sent to a dementia care home deemed the most suitable option within his allocated funding. Jonathan said he ended up in hospital six times during three months there because of catheter problems. “After about my fifth water infection, I ended up with a chest infection and got sepsis.” Spinal Injuries Association, a charity offering practical and emotional support to people with spinal cord injuries, said a blocked catheter can put a patient at risk of autonomic dysreflexia, which can cause life-threateningly high blood pressure. Jonathan then spent three years in a complex care facility, where he said he had very little freedom and only went out for two hours a week with an occupational therapist. “I’ve just basically lived in a room or a hospital ward for the best part of five years,” he said. “I only got three hours of occupational therapy a week, and I used two of those hours to go to Tesco ’s café and have a coffee.” Jonathan has now secured the funding needed for live-in carers and has moved into his own home. Spinal Injuries Association said: “There is currently a postcode lottery in funding and care for those living with spinal cord injury. This is leading to distress for those we support and in some cases a danger to the individual. Spinal cord injury is a complex condition requiring specialist care and support and we are witnessing more unacceptable delays in accessing the vital services that people need.” Jonathan said life at home had transformed his outlook. “I’ve never been busier, there’s always something to do. It’s like a weight’s been lifted, I’ve adapted really well. The biggest bonus is being able to see my daughter far more in my own home, not a clinical setting. “It’s just the feeling of having the freedom to go out and have two or three hours, even four hours if I need to. I’m just really happy being where I am.”