Tag: Diabetes

13 after he left the army

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He joined the army at 17;
served for two years in Belfast, a lance corporal.
After he left the army,
he worked with BT for 16 years, then
different jobs, but left
to care full-time
for his mother
who had dementia.
After she went into a home
he looked for work,
took two unpaid placements
(he was denied a third)
but his benefits were stopped
when he missed an appointment at the Jobcentre.
He was diabetic. Without support
he couldn’t afford to eat
or put credit
on his electricity card
to keep the fridge working
where he kept his insulin.
On the day he died
of diabetic ketoacidosis
he had three pounds forty-four pence,
six tea bags, a tin
of soup and a can of sardines
(out of date),
no food in his stomach,
and a pile of CVs
next to his body.

[The Daily Mirror, 27/07/2014, Killed by benefits cuts; The Guardian, 09/09/2014, David Clapson’s awful death was the result of grotesque government policies]

29 on the appointed day

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The first time he discovered he was in trouble was when a letter arrived
from the Department.
It was headed Fraud Investigation Section.
An investigator was going to call at his home
to interview him.
Diabetic neuropathy;
he had been unable to walk without discomfort
for over a decade.
He had been claiming benefit.
His wife had taken a part-time job
despite her own disabilities
to supplement their meagre income.
He had phoned the Department,
was told his wife’s new job
had been noted on his records.
It was more than two years later
that the fateful letter came.
The investigator arrived
on the appointed day.
The interview was carried out under caution.
He was stunned to discover
his wife’s job
was the reason for the visit.
The Department claimed
no knowledge of her job;
when he said he had informed the Department,
he was told point blank
he was lying.
His solicitor advised him:
it would be his word
against the Department’s.
Best thing to do:
plead guilty.
‘What happened to innocent
until proven guilty?’ he asked.
The solicitor
shook his head.
On the day of his court appearance
he was handed down
community punishment:
160 hours.

[Morning Star, 26/07/2011, Who are the real benefit cheats?]

51 they took

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One night
she heard him sobbing
downstairs.
He worked long hours on the farm.
He would leave at five AM.
Some days she would not see him again
until eleven. He wasn’t scared
of work.
Over the years he developed heart trouble,
diabetes, terrible ulcers.
His health deteriorated from there.
He became depressed.
She was borrowing money off everybody.
Last winter
they couldn’t put on the heating.
They sat
with blankets round them.
He was called to his Jobcentre
in late 2012.
They took his blood pressure.
They never checked his back or
asked about his diabetes
and the terrible ulcers he had on his legs.
A computer told them
he’d been on the sick
for twenty-four years –
that’s the only thing
they really knew.
It was decided
that he was capable of limited employment.
His benefit was cut.
He appealed;
a ruling would take almost a year.
He didn’t have a year.
It started in his neck,
spread rapidly.
A very rare form of cancer.
He kept saying
“I wish I could win this case
before I die.”
One night she heard him sobbing downstairs.
He told her
“I can’t go on.”
The cancer took his sight,
his hearing,
finally
his life.
They
took his dignity.

[Daily Mirror, 19/10/2013, Cancer killed my husband, but Atos took his dignity a long time before his death]