An Australian woman is warning others that mold in a house can lead to devastating medical complications.
Amie Skilton did not know when she moved into an apartment in 2016 with her husband that she had a genetic vulnerability to mold that could bring about serious health complications. She was soon to learn, according to an Australian website report published Saturday by the New York Post.
“My brain was fine and my body was fine,” Skilton, now 42, recalled, News.com.au reported.
That did not last long as she lived in an apartment in which water was leaking from the shower under the carpet.
“I started getting sick, noticeably sick, about two months in,” she said. “It may have taken that long just because it was over summer and it was really sunny, we always had the windows open and we never registered that there was a leak at all.”
Due to her genetic disposition, a “systematic breakdown” took place.
Her weight went up; her brain function went down.
5 years ago my life changed forever, thanks to #toxicmould – Ally Foster of @newscomauHQ did a great job telling my story, which you can read about here: https://t.co/pfGg1wvrSw pic.twitter.com/hCA4TdxjdY
— Amie Skilton (@AmieSkilton) August 21, 2022
Are renters at the mercy of landlords as this woman was?
“Some days I couldn’t figure out how to get dressed. I would look at clothes and … just be really confused as to, like, how to put them on,” she said, noting that she had trouble remembering simple things.
“I went fill out a form one day and I was staring at the box that said my name and I was like, ‘what is it again?’ I was staring at it, searching for it,” she said.
Tests failed to show a problem.
“This is exactly what happened. Everything came back fine, white blood cell counts fine, red blood cell counts were fine,” Skilton said.
The truth began to emerge after a building biologist uncovered the leak she had not known existed.
“The carpet looked totally fine on top but when she lifted it there was all this black mold. When we finally stripped back our mattress cover the mattress was green,” Skilton said.
To make it worse, the owner knew about the problem and never told her, News.com.au reported.
“So they left us in there knowingly, which is probably the thing that enrages me the most. They knew and it was poisoning us,” she said.
After the right tests were done, it was “100 percent clear that, not only was the place leaky and moldy, but also my immune system had reacted in the way we know my genetics would dictate in the face of mold,” she said.
Skilton’s advice was to check for mold.
“You can either get a building biologist to check your home or a certified mold testing technician. All building biologists have done that training, but not all mold testing technicians have gone on to do the rest of the building biology stuff,” she said.
Skilton has become a mold testing technician herself, according to News.com.au.
She also said individuals could have themselves to see if they are genetically susceptible to mold exposure.
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