A Hackney woman with serious health issues has been left to live in a damp and mouldy home with rotting floorboards for years.
Ms Knight, known as Kiki, says she fears for her life due to worsening living conditions at her Peabody Housing flat on Branch Place near Regent's Canal.
She said: "I feel discriminated on so many different levels. I'm highly concerned about my welfare in the flat at this point.
"I don't want to be the next person found dead in Peabody Housing Association property."
MyLondon reported how a woman was found dead in a south London Peabody flat in February, with residents saying the housing association ignored calls for a welfare check for over two years.
Kiki, who is in her late 40s, has lived with intestinal failure for over 20 years.
And, in order to get the nutrients she needs to live, she must carry out a daily life support treatment called TPN (Total Parenteral Nutrition).
The treatment involves placing a central venous catheter (CVC) into Kiki's main blood artery near the heart, via her arm.
Kiki said: "It is absolutely imperative that my life supporting treatments be administered in a safe and clean environment, which should meet the health and safety regulations."
Kiki's daughter administers daily medical routines which involve carrying out antiseptic procedures, twice or three times a day.
Along with physical ailments, she also suffers from mental health issues such as "extreme anxiety", exacerbated by fears of cross-contamination.
"I have been hospitalized uncountable times over the years with some life threatening line infections, becoming septic is a very serious matter," Kiki added.
Her flat, she reports, had a serious leak in 2014, which was left to worsen.
Today her home's floorboards are rotting, her bathroom walls damaged from damp and the flat plagued by insects, meaning her and her daughter are "confined to one room".
Kiki even lost a tooth after falling due to the damaged floorboards.
She said: "The floors are barely held up by the lino, it is terrifying."
She feels "humiliated and powerless".
"I have been left living in my bedroom eating in my bedroom. I wash in my bedroom," she told the Gazette.
"If the truth be told I'm scared. I just don't want to be forgotten like so many other tenants."
Due to her health conditions, Kiki is on the "very high priority" list for a permanent move to another home, a Peabody spokesperson said.
They added: "We’re searching for a ground floor, wheelchair-accessible home that she can move to as we agree that this property is not suitable for her needs.
"The search is taking some time because of the shortage of suitable, adapted properties in the area."
The spokesperson says that complex repairs are needed in the property, adding that Peabody has offered Kiki temporary alternative accommodation.
They added: "We understand that a temporary move isn’t an ideal solution, and that Ms Knight is not keen on moving temporarily to an apartment, but it would allow us to complete the work that would improve her living conditions.
"We will keep discussing this with her whilst we also continue our efforts to find a permanent home that is more suitable.”
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