Housebound: Neighbours Dexter Froude and Sandra Lee, who live in a Housing Trust building for people aged over 55, are eagerly awaiting the repair of their broken lift so their lives can return to normal.Picture: ANDY ZAKELI
Sandra Lee had a busy week planned, catching up with friends and enjoying Seniors Week activities.
Instead, she became one of the residents of 34 Market Street rendered housebound when the only lift in the seven-storey unit complex broke down last Sunday.
With the fire stairs the only means of getting to and from her unit in the Illawarra Housing Trust building, and Mrs Lee suffering serious mobility issues, she has been stuck inside her unit for almost a week.
MORE: Vicki Curran demands emergency rentals for residents
"I can't get up and down the stairs at all because at one time I fractured my vertebrae and also, my legs won't do it either," she said.
"I could go down but I couldn't get back up."
Mrs Lee had to cancel a number of eagerly anticipated outings and was unable to attend a Seniors Week lunch, hosted by the Housing Trust.
She said she missed her freedom and couldn't even nip downstairs to put out the rubbish.
"It has been very hard and it's frustrating," she said.
Housing Trust staff have visited residents and offered to help, including removing any rubbish and picking up groceries.
"They feel bad as well that this is going on, but what can they do?"
Although so far it's just her social life that has suffered, Mrs Lee has more serious concerns playing on her mind.
Both she and husband, George, suffer from epilepsy and she also worried about ambulance paramedics reaching the building's elderly residents if an emergency occurred.
Residents are now awaiting word on when the lift will be back in business.
Trust operations manager Chris Lacey told the Mercury this week a Kone Elevators technician said the breakdown was due to a fault with the motor and the parts would need to be sourced from either an Australian or overseas supplier.
Yesterday, Wollongong MP Noreen Hay weighed in on the issue, urging urgent action to reinstate the residents' independence.
"I have today called on the Illawarra Housing Trust and technical advisors contracted as the service company Kone to undertake urgent repairs, even if that requires around-the-clock work to deliver a satisfactory outcome," she said.