A toddler had a lucky escape when his bedroom roof caved in at his flat in Wallsend.
Little Andrew Mason and his sister Milly had just come home with their parents after an impromptu shopping trip, when the family heard the sound of smashing glass from Andrew’s bedroom.
His parents, Laura Jobes and Jimmy Mason, went to investigate, and found the child’s room to be covered in plaster a ceiling debris. The whole lot had collapsed, destroying most of the contents of the room which included Christmas presents, a phone, clothes, and toys worth £400.
Andrew’s custom made memory foam mattress which he uses due to suffering a broken leg as a 1 year old, was also rendered useless.
Most worrying though, is that the contractors who came to deal with the damage said that the weight of the ceiling plaster could have killed the boy if he had been in the room at the time – and he almost was.
His Dad, Jimmy, said:
“We had just come back in from going shopping and Andrew was in the living room watching cartoons – normally he would have been in his room playing with his toys.”
Speaking of his relief, Jimmy said:
“Frankly, I feel lucky that he wasn’t because it would have been a totally different story. He’s a really happy-go-lucky young boy but he’s only two so he is exploring everywhere so it is difficult to keep him out of the room.”
Although the family feel lucky that no one was hurt, they are now forced to live amongst dust and scaffolding while the damage is repaired, not to mention living out of a single bedroom as a family of four.
They have had help from the people around them though, and have expressed gratitude for people’s generosity.
Apologies and Compensation
The property management firm responsible for the flat, Hadrian Estates, has stated that the landlord has offered the family compensation and apologised.
They went on to say that it was not possible to test the ceilings for weakness and that it was very unfortunate that this has happened, before adding their own apologies to those of the landlord.
A spokesman for the company also clarified that:
“We have offered them the chance to move to a different property if they do not feel safe in their current one.”
It still remains to be seen whether the Mason family will continue to live in the flat or move out.
The Mason family had just moved into the 90 year old apartment the month before, having signed the tenancy agreement at the end of November.