A 32-year-old man ended up with a collapsed lung and a near-fatal sepsis infection from inhaling spores from excessive mold in his apartment.
Matthew Langsworth, who lives in council housing – the British term for public housing – says he first noticed mold in his flat in 2013 and notified management. Although work was done on his apartment in the English town of Leamington Spa, “it obviously didn’t eradicate it,” he told Kennedy News and Media via The Daily Mail. “I had constant intestinal problems and skin diseases,” along with breathing problems, he says.
He claims the mold was “rearranged” and covered with paint instead of being removed, causing him to develop a condition called invasive aspergillosis, which the US Centers for Disease Control says is the “most serious” form of mold infection. can cause.
Black mold in Matthew Langsworth’s apartment.
Kennedy News and Media
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“Now the doctor has told me that everything I’ve experienced in the last 10 years is related to mold,” he told the outlet. “Before all this happened, I lived a very active life. I was in the gym two to three times a week. I would go for six to seven mile walks on the weekends. Now I can’t even walk to the store without having to stop.”
Langworth says his condition took a turn for the worse in August 2023 when he developed a leak in his kitchen. His landlord said renovations to the venue included “a complete kitchen and bathroom replacement and the recent installation of new flooring.”
But within two weeks of returning home from a three-month repair, he says his lungs collapsed from pneumonia and he was rushed to hospital. Then he contracted a life-threatening infectious sepsis.
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“The doctors were wiping tears from my eyes because I thought I was going to die,” he said. “The mold attacked my body. The doctor told me my body was doing its best to fight it, and then decided it couldn’t take it anymore.”
Langsworth estimates that 75% of his flat has mold in it, but because the council still deems it habitable, he is ineligible for a new flat.
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According to Daily MailLangsworth’s landlord confirmed that mold was present in his home, and “we will of course continue to work with Mr. [Langsworth] complete any further repairs that may be required and continue to provide further assurances that his home is damp and mold free.”
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Source: HIS Education