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Waiting for hours when my husband got stuck in a lift
• I WOULD not think that rescuing people from a lift is a waste of firefighters’ time or public resources (Landlords’ lift responsibilities, October 1).
Several years ago, my husband got stuck in the lift in our block.
Although he had his mobile phone with him, he rang me at home instead of calling emergency services (probably because he knew that I absolutely loved firemen and policemen in uniform).
He asked me to call a repair line of the housing association which is our landlord.
So I rang them, and was told that they would contact their contractor to send lift engineers.
However, after more than three hours, my husband was still trapped in there, and so I called emergency services. I would have been very lucky indeed if lift engineers arrived on the same day.
Firemen arrived in no time and carried out a rescue operation, which was brilliant, but I was horrified to see a frail grandfather emerge from the broken lift, who was visibly distressed.
Had I known that he was in there, I would have called emergency services straight away. He might have had a heart attack.
Having ourselves been stuck in the lift, my children and I avoid using it by any means, but the elderly and mothers with a baby buggy cannot do this.
Of course causing distress to the elderly and young children is unnecessary.
Not everyone is fit like Brian Coleman.
Atsuko McCarthy
Phoenix Road, NW1
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