St. John's woman in wheelchair trapped inside home with no bathroom access

A St. John's woman in a wheelchair says she's trapped in her public housing unit because there are dozens of stairs leading to the apartment on Carter's Hill.

But that's not the biggest obstacle in Rhonda Whalen's way.

It's the 15 stairs separating her and the bathroom on the second floor.

It means she has to use a commode in her kitchen, right next to her table and chairs and in the same room where her meals are cooked. 

"I need to go [to] a place where I can go into a regular bathroom," Whalen said.

Whalen lost her left leg from necrotizing fasciitis in December 2023 and then this past May she had a stroke affecting sensation on the right side of her body, her remaining leg, and her speech.  

"But when I came home from ... the hospital, I couldn't get up over the stairs," she said.

Whalen, who has home care for a stint in the morning and evening, says she can transfer herself from the wheelchair to the commode on her own, but it's difficult and it can tip. 

"Most times I try to go myself. It's a lot of time for me to do it because I don't feel on this side," she said gesturing to the side of her body affected by the stroke.

Whalen says she does all her personal care in the kitchen, from washing her hands, brushing her teeth and bathing. 

She says she's requested a new, accessible public housing unit from the city of St. John's. 

"I'll ask, do they have anything, 'Nope, nothing available right now'," Whalen said.

St. John's Mayor Danny Breen denied an interview request from CBC News, however, in a statement spokesperson Jackie O'Brien wrote that the city only has 25 fully accessible housing units and there is no vacancy. 

O'Brien says the last time an accessible unit became available was last year.