Newstalk ZB

Cold Auckland garage leaves disabled 5-year-old at risk this winter

As winter closes in, many Auckland households face shocking health conditions caused by cold, inadequate housing - and the staff of Kidz First Children’s Hospital are on the frontline trying to help. In the first of a five-day series marking the hospital’s 25th anniversary, senior investigative reporter Michael Morrah visits Manurewa, where a family of four lives in a converted garage. Members of a South Auckland family living in a converted garage with their disabled 5-year-old son say they endure bitterly cold winter nights by sleeping huddled together on the living room floor. “It’s really, really cold,” Krishneel Gounder told the Herald. Keshni and Krishneel Gounder live in a converted garage in Manurewa with their 5-year-old child Kiaansh, who has cerebral palsy, and their 2-year-old, Kaviansh. Photo / Annaleise Shortland Gounder, a power meter technician, and his wife Keshni, live at the Manurewa property with their sons, 5-year-old Kiaansh and 2-year-old Kaviansh. Kiaansh was diagnosed with cerebral palsy in 2023, is quadriplegic and has to consume food and medicine through a tube. The converted garage where the family lives has two small bedrooms and a main living space that encompasses a kitchen, laundry, sofa, a hospital bed for Kiaansh, and his wheelchair. A single heat pump – the unit’s only source of heating – is on the living room wall. “When it’s winter, we all sleep together on the mattress here on the [living room] floor. We do not sleep in the rooms,” Keshni Gounder said. The modified dwelling, which has paper-thin glass windows, sits behind another house, at the back of a section and is not listed as a separate standalone dwelling. Keshni said it was “a bit congested”, but with rent of $480 a week excluding power and internet it was more affordable than a lot of places. The onset of winter worried Keshni the most, as Kiaansh is vulnerable to severe respiratory illness. Cold conditions can increase muscle stiffness for people with cerebral palsy and worsen her 5-year-old’s ability to swallow and clear his throat. “He was admitted [to hospital] with just a little bit of cough [last winter] and he ended up having pneumonia and we were there for about one week for antibiotics. That’s why I worry when it’s winter,” Keshni said. Her son’s medication and feeding regimes mean she needs to provide round-the-clock care. “There is a lot of sacrifice as a mother to look after a child with special needs. I do have sleepless nights,” she said. Keshni says the home is congested, but affordable at $480 a week excluding power and internet. Photo / Annaleise Shortland. Krishneel said he often needed to work six days a week to keep the family afloat financially, although he did not shy away from putting in long hours. “At times it’s a bit hard, but we have to work hard to achieve our needs and wants,” he said. Keshni and Krishneel, originally from Fiji, are New Zealand residents. She worked as a nurse in Fiji and dreams of having time to complete her New Zealand registration so she can be employed in her profession in Auckland. This cold converted Manurewa garage is home to a family of four, including a disabled child and a toddler. Herald photo / Annaleise Shortland. While life was challenging, the couple told the Herald they were dedicated to each other and focused on small wins. Keshni said she was ecstatic when her husband gave her a small necklace recently for her birthday. “He saved for it. I was so happy. We are a happy family because we have each other.” ‘Many families’ living like thisDebra Isaac is a paediatric clinical nurse specialist with Kidz First. She visits around 50 families at their homes in South Auckland each week. Photo / Annaleise Shortland Amid what many would consider an impossibly difficult existence, Keshni and Krishneel are grateful for the specialist health support they received from staff at Middlemore’s Kidz First hospital. Kidz First is a specialised public hospital based at Middlemore H...