A CLAYHILL resident was so badly burnt from a hot pipe in her shower that she was unable to move.
First year sociology and English student Jessica Martin, 22, was scorched on her lower back by a water pipe in her shower a few days after moving in, but despite making a complaint the water temperature was unaltered for three weeks.
“The water was so hot anyway. I wasn’t 100 per cent sure how bad it was until it started to really blister and I couldn’t even move because it would hurt,” Jessica said.
“I couldn’t sit down properly because I was in a lot of pain. Three weeks on it’s still really red. And it was really painful, it kept weeping. It was obviously infected.”
Jessica went to reception to make a complaint once she realised the seriousness of the burn, which has now left a scar.
Jessica explained: “The water was always really hot. Even the taps in the kitchen are very hot. Steam would come out first rather than the water, that’s how hot it was. And that would happen in the showers and none of us wanted to be in there for a long time anyway because it was uncontrollable. You couldn’t moderate the heat or anything.
“You can’t move in the shower because the curtain will go out and flood the entire bathroom so while I’m in the shower I have my conditioner and shampoo with me so as I bent down to get it I’ve leaned against the pipes and it burnt me.
“Obviously I was in a new area, I didn’t know where to go to, I don’t have a doctor here. So I didn’t really know what to do.”
Jessica’s friends have advised her to ask for a refund but she has not yet decided what to do.
“I just made my point on the fact that for someone who has paid all the money up front, and I’ve asked them numerous times can you do something about it, nothing was done. You think you paid for something but you are not getting a good service,” she said.
Jessica was not the only student to be burnt by hot shower pipes, and maintenance has now put foam around the pipes.
Jessica’s flat mate, Campbell Hartley, also got his hand burnt with the kitchen’s sink and now has a scar.
“It was pretty deep and I had pains up until my elbow. I didn’t even notice until the next morning when my hand was sore,” Campbell said.
The new manager of Clayhill who started on Monday October 7 said he wanted to apologise for any distress this has brought to students.
A university spokesperson explained that the incident occurred “when a thermostat on a hot water cylinder failed, resulting in the water overheating.”
“We were very sorry to learn of this and take such issues extremely seriously,” said the Kingston University spokesperson.
The university and their partner, the Grosvenor Facilites Management Ltd, who manages Clayhill halls of residence, wants to ensure that this kind of accident will not reoccur in the future and that for them students’ safety always comes first.