A MAN, who was diagnosed with Marfan’s syndrome five years ago, fears for his health after living in a flooded flat for more than a year.

Darren O’Brien, of Greenings Court, says he is ‘shocked’ by the way owners, Sanctuary House, have failed to fix his water-logged flat and is disgusted by the way he has been treated.

The 30-year-old said: “I moved in about 15 months ago and everything was fine. But, after a few months, I noticed puddles appearing on the carpet but, because I’m blind, I thought it was just me dropping drinks.”

Darren soon realised that this wasn’t the case and that the puddles were caused by leaking water coming from an unknown source.

The problem has since spiralled out of control and, for the past 11 weeks, every room in the flat has suffered from flooding.

Plumbers, roofing companies and surveyors have been called out to take a look at the flat but have all failed to fix the problem.

“I can’t even try to dry out the flat because of my condition,” said Darren, who is partially blind.

Marfan’s syndrome is a disorder of the body's connective tissues which can cause abnormally long and slender limbs, heart defects and lens dislocation.

Due to the condition, Darren’s any form of heat causes his skin to blister due to problems with his sweat glands.

He said: “They offered me a flat in the other block which I was more than happy to take but they tried to make me sign for it even though it has no carpets and is half decorated. I just feel like I have got to the point where I have given up on them now.”

Phil Jones, local head of maintenance services for Sanctuary said: “Our team has been working very hard to strike the right balance between pinpointing the exact location of the leak in Mr O’Brien’s flat while at the same time keeping disruption to an absolute minimum.

“As soon as another flat became available nearby, we offered him the choice of moving into it.

“Carpeting has just been installed in Mr O’Brien’s new home, and he is due to move in this week at which point our operatives will be able to remove the flooring in his old flat and repair the leak.”