Woman in coma comes out of intensive care to find she's been evicted from home

09 February 2024 , 16:09

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Juliet came out of intensive care to find all of her possessions had gone (Image: Adam Hughes / SWNS)

A woman with sickle cell disease woke up from a coma to find she had been evicted from her home with all her belongings gone.

Juliet Iswan, 43, was in Bristol Royal Infirmary hospital from February 2023 after suffering a stroke which put her into a coma for five weeks. She stayed in the ICU until just two weeks ago in January 2024 - but now Juliet is living in social housing with nothing but a hospital bed and hospital gowns. Before being admitted to hospital, Juliet lived at the emergency housing accommodation Connolly & Callaghan, in Bristol, where she had been for eight years.

But while unconscious in hospital, all of her belongings, including £300 in cash, her passport, irreplaceable family jewellery and other possessions, were either sold or thrown away, and she is yet to find any record of them.

Juliet, who was born in Uganda but has lived in Bristol since 2005, said: "I was told when I came out of a coma that I had been evicted from my home and all my things were gone.

Juliet lost all of her belongings, including £300 in cash, her passport and irreplaceable family jewellery (SWNS)

"The most important things I cannot even put a monetary value on - necklaces, earrings, every gift I ever got from my parents was in that box - my Mum, my Grandma - and it's all apparently gone. I've lost all my clothes, shoes still in boxes - I loved to walk everyday come rain come shine, I would walk but now I have nothing. I don't even know where my passport is.

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"I'm now in a cold house with just a hospital bed and that is it - how can you discharge someone to this life? From a coma to this - it's freezing cold - this is no way to live. I have nothing. Between the council and Connolly & Callaghan, no one is taking responsibility for my stuff.

Juliet was born with sickle cell disease - a serious and incurable lifelong health condition, which causes chronic pain, fatigue and other serious health problems, such as infection, acute chest syndrome and strokes.

She explained how the disease means she goes to sleep in pain, "with a traffic jam of cells in your body which hinders the movement of blood in your body", often leaving her 'feeling like she's counting down the days of her life.'

A photo of the emergency accomadtion Julie was evicted from while unconscious (Adam Hughes / SWNS)

After suffering a severe stroke in 2009, Juliet's life dramatically changed. She became physically disabled and had to have multiple hip replacements, as well as other surgeries.

Since then, she recalls being in and out of hospital, but was left in the BRI for 10 months when she suffered from a stroke. She then went into a coma, brought about by Cerebral edema - swelling of the brain - in February 2023.

Juliet explained: "When I had woken up from my coma, my sickle cell nurse had to inform me I was literally homeless and had been evicted. I didn't know what to say or think, I couldn't speak. I just had to try and block this and focus on getting well. I remember asking what had happened to all my stuff inside the property. The nurse said to me, 'I didn't want to tell you - but the housing agents said all your things are mixed with everyone's."

She was informed that she or a family member could collect some of her 'important' items, but upon collection, she was only given her medication and an empty jewelry box - not her passport, cash, or sentimental jewellery.

A homeless officer had spoken with Juliet's agents while she was in hospital, saying she was about to be discharged and had been provided with a one bedroom council flat. They came to collect her things so that when she went to her new 'home', she could have her belongings.

Julie has had sickle cell disease her whole life (Adam Hughes / SWNS)

She said: "They were told it was all gone. At first I couldn't believe it, then I just started crying. They could have called to tell me they were going to get rid of it - but they didn't even give me or the hospital a call. They knew I was in a coma - they knew my state, but no one was informed at all."

"They shouldn't do this to people - just because I don't have a big family to fight my corner or anyone to hold people accountable - it's completely inhumane."

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Juliet had been living with Connolly & Callaghan for over six years. She said they knew if she wasn't home, she'd be in hospital as her sudden hospital visits were "not just out of the blue".

A spokesperson for Connolly & Callaghan said: "In order to dispose of belongings, we must receive a TORT letter from the statutory agency and a copy is sent to the resident by the statutory agency, then and only then are belongings disposed of.

"There were a couple of enquiries about Juliet's belongings this week, however, the initial response from my colleague was that we generally wouldn't keep belongings for more than 7 days, so if Juliet was discharged 8 months ago (as the enquirer had stated) it's unlikely we still have them.

"We have no complaint on file regarding this matter, nor a record of the 'list of 5 things' or missing belongings. No belongings have been auctioned. We do empathise with the residents booked into our accommodation and will always try and accommodate where we can. It's really disappointing that the account below is inaccurate and portraying our colleagues as if they do not care about those in our accommodation. This is not true."

A spokesperson for Bristol City Council has said the housing provider is responsible for a tenant's possessions, not the council. Juliet hopes to raise awareness of her situation to stop others from going through the trauma she has experienced. She added: "It's just not right - this will happen to another person if people don't find out. We need to call them out."

She added: "I would like to thank few people like the medical staff at BRI especially Oncology and Haematology Centre at ICU Bristol and Bristol OSCAR for the support and care."

Zahra Khaliq