A DISABLED woman left stranded in her bedroom after problems with a stairlift has reached a resolution with the company – 28 days later.

Emma Richardson, 24, of Spaunton, near Kirkbymoorside, suffers from Ehlers Danlos Hypermobility, which means all her joints dislocate easily and she is in constant pain.

Emma uses a wheelchair. She had surgery before Christmas to tighten up the ligaments in her left shoulder to try to stop it dislocating, and was told by doctors not to move her shoulder for at least five weeks.

But, as The Press reported earlier this month her mum, Margery Yaxley, said this proved difficult due to Emma’s stairlift which, she claimed, had been stopping and starting unexpectedly since it was fitted just over two years ago.

Mrs Yaxley said the stairlift was paid for by Ryedale District Council using a disabled facilities grant and it was fitted by a company called Freelift, which now goes under the name Handicare. The council provided a £1,700 grant to Mrs Yaxley to install the stairlift in 2008 and Freelift was the company which won the tender to install the lift.

Now Mrs Yaxley said Handicare has offered to pay the family enough money to buy a new stairlift and a £300 maintenance package which Emma paid because the lift was out of warranty.

Mrs Yaxley said: “We are just relieved that we have been able to come to a satisfactory resolution with the firm.

“Emma has been stuck in her room for almost a month and because she’s been unable to come down she has not only missed out on nice things like meals out, but important physiotherapy sessions for her shoulder.

“We are hoping now to employ another firm to fit a new stairlift and set Emma free as soon as possible.”

Since Emma began her ordeal she has set up a Facebook group to raise awareness of her plight, called “Free Emma – Fix the Stairlift”.

A spokeswoman for Handicare said: “When a customer is not confident with a product, we do our utmost to find a solution that is best for the client. As our engineers were not able to find a fault with the stairlift, our technical specialist visited at the earliest time the family could accommodate.

“Unfortunately, he was still unable to identify the fault but, because the client was not confident with the product, we changed the unit.

“While the stairlift was operational, the client declined to try the newly installed unit while we were on site, since which time they have decided not to use it at all.

“In an effort to find a solution for the client, we offered to install an alternative model and gave a choice of systems that could be installed within three working days.

“Customer satisfaction is our primary concern at Handicare and we always work hard to resolve any issues that our customers may have.

“Whilst we are disappointed that none of the product solutions we offered were accepted by the client, we sincerely hope that the alternative option she has chosen will meet her needs going forwards.”