A Kelty father feared his young son would die of an illness he thinks may be linked to a botched plumbing job.
Four-year-old Adrian Buller was rushed into hospital from his Blackhall Road home on Sunday suffering from suspected norovirus.
Mr Buller told The Courier said, “He was seriously ill, he went really floppy, and I thought he was going to die.”
With the entire family showing symptoms, with vomiting and diarrhoea, Mr Buller fears that their illness could stem from a long-running plumbing saga stretching back to last March.
Mr Buller, who is disabled, said it is believed bathwater has not been draining properly and has been swamping the foundations of the home he shares with his wife Louise and their four children.
Almost since the bath was fitted there has been a dreadful smell around the house and despite calling on the services of Fife Council several times over the intervening weeks, a solution has not been found.
On Thursday, fearful of more delays, Mr Buller contacted The Courier.
He said, “I feel like the council just don’t care.”Repairs promisedHowever the council pledged to have a workman visit the Buller home to deal with the situation.
Keith Brown, maintenance and improvement team leader, said, “We apologise for the inconvenience and distress this has caused to the Buller family.
“We will send someone out to the property today to ensure this is dealt with as quickly as possible to minimise any further disruption.”
Mr Buller explained the problems stemmed from March when a workman called at their semi-detached council house to remove a shower and install a bath.
He said, “About a week or two after that, we noticed a really terrible smell and phoned the council but was told it would take 30 days for a plumber to come out and look at it.
“When he turned up I told him we’d got a new bath but he never looked under it.”
Instead Mr Buller was told the smell would be coming from the main outside drain because there had been a spell of dry weather.
The smell has continued to plague the house, and on Sunday things took a turn for the worse as Adrian became very ill.Entire family affectedMr Buller said, “We took him to the out-of-hours doctor’s surgery at Queen Margaret Hospital and he was sent immediately to Forth Park.
“It was awful to see him like that. Now my wife is ill and I’m worried as she is a diabetic and has to eat.”
He added, “Adrian’s back from hospital now but our youngest Connie is now ill.”
Older children Kimberley (13) and Liam (16) have also been affected and Mr Buller himself admitted that he was not feeling well on Thursday.
After contacting the council, a plumber arrived on Wednesday and Mr Buller said he told him the bath had not been fitted properly and the water was not draining.
He made adjustments, but Mr Buller fears all the waste bathwater has been accumulating under his house, causing the odour.
He became more angry when he contacted the council to tell them of the water underneath his home, only to be told that there would be another delay.
Mr Buller said, “They said it would be two days before it was inspected and 30 working days until it was done.
“Now, we don’t know if this has anything to do with being ill but I suspect it is do we keep contracting the bug?”