A disabled mother thought her dream of moving to a ground floor flat was over when she found herself unable to afford a removals truck - until a local firm stepped in.

Tracey Whiteside had been on the waiting list for a new council property for almost five years when she was finally told by Renfrewshire Council that they had an accessible, ground floor flat available in Paisley that she could move into right away with her husband and 14-year-old daughter.

Mrs Whiteside, 48, who was interviewed as part of the Herald's housing emergency series, told how she had "burst into tears" with relief after getting the keys to the new family home.

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The former photographer had been living in a first-floor tenement in Linwood, but had been placed on the waiting list for a new council property in November 2019 as a result of health conditions which caused severe pain in her legs and left her relying on a wheelchair which did not fit through the flat’s bathroom doorway.

The situation worsened in August 2020 when Mrs Whiteside had to undergo surgery to amputate her left leg below the knee.

Unable to be fitted with a prosthetic limb due to ulcers, Mrs Whiteside found herself having to crawl up and down the tenement stairs which were often filthy with urine and discarded syringes.

One one occasion she dislocated her shoulder and fractured a collar bone as a result.

Then, in May this year, she began to develop a rash around a cut on her hand - sustained while making her way up and down the stairway.

The rash began to spread up her arm until it was covering both arms and her legs.

Suspecting a serious infection, her GP referred her to A&E and Mrs Whiteside was admitted to hospital where she was diagnosed with a bacterial infection caused by Staphylococcus aureus and treated with intravenous antibiotics.

Over a two-week period, her condition deteriorated so badly that doctors feared she was developing sepsis as her kidneys and liver began to fail and she developed problems with her pancreas.

Tracey Whiteside, pictured at the Finding Your Feet charity hub in Paisley where she volunteersTracey Whiteside, pictured at the Finding Your Feet charity hub in Paisley where she volunteers (Image: GordonTerris/Herald&Times)

In the end, Mrs Whiteside recovered, but the ordeal led her to push the council once again to prioritise the family for relocation after doctors warned that she is likely to need her right leg amputated below the knee as well.

On July 2, the council told the couple that they had first refusal on a two-bedroom ground floor flat in Paisley.

Mrs Whiteside, who is a member of the Children's Panel and also volunteers with the Paisley-based limb loss charity Finding Your Feet, was delighted.

She and her husband, Thomas, who has recovered from multiple strokes, accepted the property and had initially hoped to move in by the end of July.

However, they were shocked when flitting companies quoted them an average of £1,100 to clear out the flat and transfer the furniture to their new home.

"At one point, we actually thought we were going to have to change our mind about moving," said Mrs Whiteside.

"On benefits, we don't have that kind of money lying around, especially when we still had to fork out to carpet the [new] place. We could only afford to pay one thing, not both.

"Then, just when I thought all was lost, Andy at AK Vehicle Hire in Paisley came to the rescue and offered us 24-hour hire of a van for free.

"We had family and friends offering to help us move on their day off, and JB Carpets in Paisley also gave us a small discount as we were buying floor coverings for every room of the flat.

"I honestly don't know what I would have done without these people. They have changed our lives - but especially mine."

Mrs Whiteside pictured in July with Cor Hutton, who created Finding Your Feet after surviving sepsisMrs Whiteside pictured in July with Cor Hutton, who created Finding Your Feet after surviving sepsis (Image: GordonTerris/Herald&Times)

The family moved into their new home on August 3.

They are now fundraising for an electric wheelchair and are appealing for help securing two replacement sofas as their friends had been unable to squeeze the couches - which the couple purchased only two years ago - out of the Linwood flat. 

Mrs Whiteside said: "Four and a half years of waiting for a suitable flat, four and a half years of having to crawl up 17 filthy stairs on my hands and knees, catching an infection that could have killed me, now only to have to sit in a wheelchair or on the floor.

"That's neither comfortable nor suitable, given my physical limitations."

Nonetheless, Mrs Whiteside said the move has already been life-changing.

She said: "I went to the Finding Your Feet hub in Paisley, and it was so different.

"I enjoyed it more than normal because I knew I didn't have stairs to climb when I got back home.

"I could take the gloves out of my bag - the ones that I wore when I had to crawl up and down the stairs in my old flat.

"And when the realisation hit that I didn't have to do that any more, I cried."