Housing hero wins award for saving life of a Halifax man

Sean Hale, leading the fitting of new kitchens in Halifax, called police back in February when there was no answer at the door from an elderly customer.

Officers broke in and found the resident in bed barely conscious having become ill overnight.

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The man, 72, who is also deaf, was rushed to hospital for treatment for hyponatremia – low levels of sodium in the blood.

Symptoms include dehydration and brain swelling that can lead to headaches, seizures, coma and even death.

The customer is believed to have been only a couple of hours away from falling into a coma when Sean acted at around 8.20am that morning.

Sean said: “From what the hospital said, having checked, it’s possible that he might not still be here had we not acted.

“If we hadn’t done anything, and I then subsequently found out that the gentleman had died, I’d never have been able to live with myself.”

Sean and his Yorkshire Housing Homeworks team had been fitting new kitchens in Pellon.

Staff were also making daily checks to see how residents were coping with the kitchen refurbishments – and so knew the customer was around.