Hopes go down drain with cash

NO HOPE: Sarah de la Haye who has Cerebral Palsy and fiance Craig Hansen lost the $4250 deposit for a new shower when Mercy Renovators went into voluntary liquidation.PHOTO/PAUL TAYLOR

A Hastings woman with Cerebral Palsy says Mercy Renovators not only took her $4250 deposit, but also her independence.

Sarah de la Haye, 44, understands others lost far bigger sums of money when the Hastings company went into voluntary liquidation last November, but the emotional cost hit hardest.

After moving into fiance Craig Hansen's Hastings home the couple decided to revamp their bathroom so she would be able to take a shower without assistance.

They had planned to remove the bath and shower to make room for a wet area - for which Ms De la Haye had already picked out tiles, hand railing and a showerhead.

Mr Hansen paid the deposit on a credit card in early August but when he heard Hawke's Bay Today editor Andrew Austin on Kidnappers Radio speaking about the liquidation, those hopes were dashed.

"It's not just about the money, it's the independence I was going to gain. He was going to gain extra time as well - he's the one who puts me in and out of the shower," Ms de la Haye said.

She sensed something was wrong before the announcement, when a date for work to commence was never confirmed despite multiple calls to their office.

Cerebral Palsy varies depending on the individual. Hers is spastic diplegia which affects all four limbs but mostly the lower half of her body, meaning she moves around in a wheelchair.

"If I had a wet area shower and the floor was completely flat I could transfer myself to a shower chair. It was going to be major independence regained, it would mean so much."

Because Mr Hansen works fulltime, they were not eligible for full assistance through Enable disability funding, but if the work had gone ahead they would have been able to claim something back.

As it stands they have a credit card debt to repay and nothing to show for it.

"You don't think when you pay for a bathroom that it's just not going to happen ... it just really sucks."

At her wits end and totally disappointed by the experience, Ms de la Haye started a Givealittle page in the hopes members of the Hawke's Bay community might help her to achieve independence.

- Find her page at: givealittle.co.nz/cause/wetareashower2015