Eastbourne mum devastated after storm destroys garden her autistic son loves: ‘My son’s life is the garden’

An Eastbourne family’s garden was turned into ‘an absolute mess’ after Storm Eunice hit the town last week.

Storm Eunice damaged several parts of the town on Friday, February 18.

Kirsty May, who lives in Hengist Close, said the winds were so strong it made a tree by her house fall.

She said, “The whole floor started to lift up.

“All of a sudden the fence panel flew off and the tree started falling down.

“It brought up the bottom bit of my garden.

“Now it is just an absolute mess.”

Miss May said her son Edward Hill, who has autism and is non-verbal, has been impacted by the damage.

She said, “It was my son’s life in the garden.

“It is really hard for him to come to Knockhatch so we had a lot of work put into the garden.”

Miss May said her son would go on the trampoline in the garden every day.

Since the tree fell on Friday, Miss May said she had contacted Eastbourne Borough Council and housing Association Optivo about clearing the debris.

She said, “The garden is not safe at all. Anyone can come in.”

An Optivo spokesperson said, “We’ve undertaken the relevant checks and established this tree is on Optivo land.

“We’ve therefore arranged for this to be removed on February 23, 2022.

“We’ll then follow up, working closely with our resident to organise a date for our contractor to repair the damage to her fence.”

The council said, “A specialist officer visited the property on Friday [February 18] and confirmed the tree is on private land and is not an immediate danger.”

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