Cockroach crawled in my mouth: Tenant

By ALANAH MAY ERIKSEN
Cancer victim Francis Daley has suffered from a dose of salmonella - and he blames the germ-ridden cockroach that crept into his mouth while he slept.
The 46-year-old's upstairs flat in Rotorua's Sala St is infested with German cockroaches.
Mr Daley, who has lymph cancer, moved into the flat in August but says the cockroach problem only became apparent when the weather warmed up in December.
Last month he woke to find a cockroach in his mouth. A few days later he had bad diarrhoea and was too sick to eat.
His doctor told him he had caught salmonella, which may have been passed on by the cockroach.
He has moved out of the insect-infested property because he cannot bear to share a house with the cockroaches.
He wants compensation for money he has spent on trying to get rid of the bugs, but the owner of the property died recently.
Mr Daley had limited contact with the owner who had placed the flat with a property manager. That manager has inspected the flat and has arranged for pest controllers to "deal with it".
Mr Daley said he was happy something was being done about the problem but planned to go to the Tenancy Tribunal. He wanted $3000 to cover money spent on pest control, costs in living elsewhere due to the infestation, and infected clothing he had destroyed.


The cockroaches lived throughout the house but seemed to breed under Mr Daley's fridge where there were "hundreds", he said.

"I get rid of them and within two days they're back again. I think they live in the walls where I can't see them," he said.
"I keep the place tidy, I don't drink, I never have parties."
Mr Daley travels to Waikato Hospital to receive treatment monthly and the bug problem has added to his stress, he said.
"I have no energy whatsoever, I'm sick all the time so I can't work so I don't have much money. I just don't know how to deal with this."
Protex Fumigation Services owner Sheldon Harvey said the German cockroaches thrived in warm areas.
"With the German cockroaches you turn the light on and they scurry around in mass numbers. These guys just multiply, multiply, multiply."
Mr Sheldon said the best way to get rid of cockroaches - which reputedly can survive a nuclear blast - was by using dust insecticides, gel bait or glue traps.
Toi te Ora Public Health medical officer of health, Dr Phil Shoemack said cockroaches, like other insects, could spread diseases such as salmonella.
However, it would be hard to prove Mr Daley's sickness was caused by the roach in his mouth.