Man with end-stage kidney failure suffers home dialysis room hell
Martin Linham, 54, was diagnosed with end-stage kidney failure in September 2021.
![Other builders have refused to help Martin Linham because of the mess the previous builder left their house in (PA Real Life/Collect)](https://static.the-independent.com/2023/09/05/07/04092029-eb91db08-4cc5-4979-aa68-f8e426bd25d0.jpg)
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Your support makes all the difference.A man with end-stage kidney failure hired a builder to create an at-home dialysis treatment room, paying him nearly Ā£120,000 in weekly instalments, but he stopped turning up and left the family home āin tattersā.
Martin Linham, 54, a solutions architect, from Lee-on-the-Solent, Hampshire, was diagnosed with igA nephropathy and end-stage kidney failure āout of the blueā in September 2021, so decided to get a two-storey extension in order to have his own bedroom and bathroom downstairs, as well as a dialysis treatment room.
Martin and his wife, Ann Ferguson, 58, appointed a well-reviewed architect who ārecommendedā a local builder who had a reasonable quote, availability and an impressive portfolio of previous work.
The builder got to work in February 2022 and sent Martin weekly invoices for the work he had done, but over time he turned up less and less until he was only visiting the house once a week.
By Christmas, Martin was still without hot water and electricity or an oven in the kitchen and began to realise how āabsolutely ridiculousā the situation was getting.
By March 2023, Martin had paid the builder a total of Ā£118,866.13 despite having āno doorsā, being āfreezing coldā, and the roof āleakingā, which, Martin said, āobviously made (his) condition worseā.
The builder promised to finish the job in the following six weeks, but ādid absolutely nothingā.
Since then, Martin has had to shell out an additional Ā£80,000 to different builders to start making repairs to the house, and he is still without a suitable treatment room.
Martin told PA Real Life: āSince the builder stopped turning up, weāve had other builders come to our house and turn the job down because they donāt want to handle all of this mess ā it was in tatters.
āItās just the last thing you want when you have end-of-life kidney failure.ā
In September 2021, Martin was diagnosed with igA nephropathy which, according to the NHS, is a kidney disorder in which antibodies, called IgA, build up in kidney tissue.
He said: āI was diagnosed literally out of the blue.
āIt just came on straightaway with no warning signs ā I was told after blood tests by the GP to pack a bag and get to the hospital.
āWithin six hours I had a line put in my neck and I was being dialysed because they basically told me if I waited any longer I would have been in a box.
āThe diagnosis led to me being diagnosed with end-stage kidney failure too ā it was pretty sobering for sure.ā
After being diagnosed, Martin was in hospital for more than a year, having dialysis five or six times a week.
In 2022, doctors suggested he could have the treatment at home between three and five times a week.
He said: āI really wanted to be at home more ā after dialysis I just feel absolutely wasted.
āI have no energy, my quality of life has just disappeared, Iām constantly itching, and have brain fog.ā
Martin and his wife began to look into getting a two-storey extension on their home, so Martin could have his own bathroom and bedroom downstairs, as well as a room for his treatment.
The couple appointed an architect, had plans drawn up, and got planning permission for the project.
They discussed the work with five different builders, all sending in different quotes, but their architect recommended someone else at a cheaper price who could complete the job sooner, so they decided to go with him.
So, from February 2022, the builder issued an invoice once a week for the work done.
Martin said: āWe kept paying out money on a weekly basis and the builder sent us emails every week detailing what had been done, and what he will be doing the following week.
āThe groundwork started to take shape, they cleared the garden, the brickwork went up, and they demolished the old conservatory.ā
But, over time, the builder started to turn up less and less until he was only visiting the house once a week.
Martin said: āI kept on at him permanently. I asked him when will he be doing this and that, and heād say a day, but would not show up.
āSo we started to think āOK, this is getting really oddā ā at that point, we had given him around Ā£30,000 for two sets of bifold doors, a composite front door, and five windows.
āBut he kept saying he had a problem with the distributor, and we decided we werenāt going to pay any more until something happened.
āSo all the labour stopped apart from him turning up occasionally when he needed a bit of extra money.ā
By Christmas Eve 2022, Martin and his family still did not have any hot water in the kitchen as well as no electricity and no oven.
He said: āWe forced the electrician to come in on Christmas Eve and they put ovens in for us, but at that point we just realised how absolutely ridiculous this all was.ā
By March 2023, Martin had paid the builder a total of Ā£118,866.13.
He said: āAround Ā£5,700 was paid to him to pay the electrician, but we found out later that the electrician never got paid.
āThe roof was left half done, so it was leaking and it wasnāt watertight, there were no windows, so all the plaster work that they had done inside was completely ruined.
āDownstairs, the main house was OK, but we had openings instead of doors ā we went through the winter and it was freezing cold because the rain and the wind would come in.
āObviously it made my condition worse.ā
The builder āswore he would finishā the job in the following six weeks, but he ādid absolutely nothingā.
Martin said: āI was in a particularly bad way and my wife was extremely upset ā she was having to shoulder a lot of the burden because I wasnāt physically able to do things.
āI physically canāt lift things because Iāve got a central line in my chest.
āSo if I pull that I will bleed out ā if I damage it, within five minutes Iāll be dead.ā
Since then āevery single pennyā has gone into trying to renovate the house ā so far, Martin and his wife have spent an additional Ā£80,000.
Martin said: āWeāve just had the en-suite bathroom put in ā itās not tiled, it isnāt heated and thereās no electrics in it.
āWeāve got my downstairs bedroom in, but it has to be treated for all the mould that was created.
āThe hallway, the kitchen, the new big area for the dining room, the porchway, all of that is unfinished, and the outside garden is an absolute tip.ā
Martin is also having to double up his home office as his dialysis room.
He explained: āIt has to be completely sterile, and, because of all of this going on, it feels impossible to keep it clean because of all the dust.ā
Looking back on the experience, Martin does not think there was much he could have done differently.
He said: āWe went off recommendations and everything else.
āWe think he is doing the same to other people in our area ā itās quite frightening.ā