Brixham woman fears her terminally ill mother could die because of infected water crisis
Sam Blackledge reports on the 93-year-old woman at the heart of Brixham's infected water crisis
A woman from Brixham fears her terminally ill 93-year-old mother could become the 'first fatality' of the town's contaminated water crisis if she gets infected.Karen Taylor cares for her mum, Audrey, and for the past month has been painstakingly ensuring she does not drink tap water which may still contain traces of cryptosporidium.South West Water has lifted the 'boil water' notice for some people - but more than 2,000 households are still in the warning area.
Karen told ITV West Country several of her neighbours have been hospitalised and she fears for her mum's health if she becomes ill.
"She's four stone, she's fragile, there's no way mum is well enough to be taken to hospital," she said.
"It doesn't bear thinking about. She's been through a lot at 93. She doesn't even want to go yet. We're grateful for the time that we've got but it would be an injustice wouldn't it?Karen and her family live in the Hillhead area of Brixham, very close to the source of a bacteria outbreak which has affected thousands of homes.
More than a month on, they are still being told their tap water is not safe to drink.
Several of their neighbours have been admitted to hospital with sickness. Karen fears that if her mum became ill, she would not survive."She wouldn't stand a chance," she said. "I've been terrified of infecting her when I was infected and didn't know I was infected.
"We didn't see this sneaking into the house. With Covid, we knew it was there, but not this. It's heart-rendering, worrying if I could pass it on to her because she would be their first fatality. She really would."
Laura Flowerdew, South West Water’s chief customer and digital officer, said: “We want to thank our customers, visitors and local businesses for their continued patience while our teams work hard to clean the network and put interventions in place to prevent this from happening again.
"We are pleased to be able to remove the boil water notice for 21 customers along the Hillhead to Boohay main. We want to reassure everyone that we have taken all the necessary steps, including rigorous sampling, to be sure their water is safe to use as normal.
“We are working around the clock to lift the boil water notice for the remaining customers in the Hillhead, Upper Brixham and Kingswear area.
"Cryptosporidium levels are reducing as a result of our work but we will only lift the notice further when we are completely sure it is safe to do so."