ILMINSTER AREA NEWS: Third time lucky for Jake and his lift – fingers-crossed!

TEENAGER Jake Cullen and his parents have got their fingers firmly crossed today (Tuesday, January 19, 2016) that the special lift he uses at his home so he can get up and down stairs in his wheelchair will finally be fixed at the third time of asking.

As previously reported 15-year-old Jake, who has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, has been left in his bedroom in the upstairs of his home in South Petherton since Friday night because the lift has been out of action.

An engineer was called out by the Stonewater housing association – of which Jake and his mum and dad Mark and Tash are residents – on Saturday, but was unable to fix the problem.

There was more disappointment for the family yesterday (Monday) when another engineer arrived at their home, but could not resolve the issue.

So it is fingers-crossed for today (Tuesday, January 19, 2016) that the lift will be fixed at the third time of asking.

The Stonewate housing association has been full of apologies to the Cullen family for the upset it has caused which has left Jake virtually a “prisoner in his own bedroom.”

PHOTO - TOP: Jake Cullen with mum and dad Mark and Tash at their home in South Petherton.

Stonewater’s assistant director for assets, Richard Payze, said: “We are genuinely sorry that we have not yet been able to repair the lift for Jake Cullen and Mr and Mrs Cullen.

“Our engineers made every effort to repair the lift during both of their visits on Saturday and Monday - they have identified faulty batteries and will be returning on Tuesday (January 19) to replace them.

“We are in regular contact with Mr and Mrs Cullen and our focus now is on sorting things out quickly and that we make sure that this never happens again.

“We will be carrying out a full investigation into our processes so we can learn from what went wrong.

“As a leading social landlord, we have a responsibility to make sure we put customers at the centre of things, and can only apologise for any unnecessary upset caused by our delay in resolving this issue.”

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