Finally... home sweet home for baby Tommy

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A BABY is finally set to go home SEVEN MONTHS after his family was told he must stay in hospital because their council house was too small.

Eight-month-old Tommy Bullman, who has learned his first words from the doctors and nurses at University College Hospital, should now be off the ward in time for his first birthday on July 21.

Tommy has been at the Euston hospital since August, when doctors diagnosed him with bulbar palsy - which means certain cranial nerves do not work properly and that he cannot swallow safely.

Doctors will not allow him home unless he has a room of his own because he needs a host of special equipment, including a feeding pump, oxygen, and a suction machine to remove excess mucus from his mouth.

But his family - mum Sarah Bullman, postman dad Elton Bullman and siblings Lauren, eight, and Freddie, five - are currently squeezed into a two-bedroom council flat in St Peter's Street, Islington.

They have been scouring Islington's housing lists for a large enough property since September last year but only now has one become available. It is a four-bedroom house off Caledonian Road, Islington.

Mrs Bullman, 33, said: "I missed the first time he rolled over. I missed his first tooth coming through. His first word was 'hello', which is how the nurses and doctors greet him. He still hasn't said mum. It's been heartbreaking.

"I am just so excited at the prospect of getting him back into our little family. The next thing is getting his room ready because he can't come home until then."

There are about 13,000 families on Islington's council house waiting list - and there is a particular shortage of larger homes.

"I thought that the process would be quicker, given that it was a baby away from his family, but there just didn't seem to be any properties available," Mrs Bullman said.

Councillor Terry Stacy, deputy leader of Islington Council, which is building the first new council houses in the borough for a generation, is pleased the family have finally been found a home.

He said: "We have kept in constant contact with the family to keep them up-to-date with which properties were available as they had very specific needs.

"I hope the Bullmans are very happy in their new home now that they will finally be reunited as a family. I look forward to visiting them when they have settled in.