The great-nephew of Mrs O said yesterday he was in no financial position to help pay for care for his elderly relative and didn’t have room to take her into his own home.Mr S told The Royal Gazette: “I am struggling. I have been to the bank to refinance to hold onto what I have.”The 57-year-old man and his sister jointly own the rundown house where 98-year-old Mrs O lives. The siblings were left the property by their late father, Mrs O’s nephew.Mr S explained his great-aunt “always lived there from [being] a little girl. That was the family homestead. She watched her father build it.”He said his great-grandfather, Mrs O’s father, left the one-storey house to Mrs O’s brother.“She was always under the impression that the house was willed to her but the deeds showed that my great-grandfather left it to my grandfather. She was never really on the deeds.”He said his father instructed a lawyer to give Mrs O a life interest in the house so that she could live there until her death.“Our lawyer instructed us that the best thing we could do for her is to give her life interest in the property.”Government said last week the “life interest” prevented Mrs O, who has dementia and diabetes, from claiming anything from the Department of Financial Assistance, even though social workers say she needs 24-hour care.Mr S said that made no sense to him and that he and his sister had been to the National Office for Seniors and the Physically Challenged (NOSPC) to explain the life interest gave their great-aunt no financial benefit.“We have been down there and explained the situation to these people. My sister and I don’t have the finances to support her.“We have tried our best to work along with them but for some reason those meetings that were supposed to happen never did.”The father-of-two, who lives around the corner from his great-aunt, said he’d never been close to her but visited “every so often” and cut the grass and hedges.He said he was aware Ms H, his great-aunt’s former employer, had been paying for professional carers Preferred Choice Homecare to go in twice a day for three hours to look after Mrs O.“I know of her [Ms H]; I have never met her. My aunt brought up her family. She brought up three generations of that lady’s family.“She’s never been involved with my family. If you look in her [Mrs O’s] house, you won’t find no pictures of us in her house. She’s got pictures of Ms H’s children.”This newspaper first revealed Mrs O’s plight on December 14, describing how 60-year-old Ms H, who is seriously ill herself and is facing large medical bills, could no longer afford to pay for Mrs O’s care.Ms H first sought help from Government in March this year but was offered no assistance with paying for care for Mrs O.She reached the end of her tether this month, after repeatedly being told she would need to find the funds for a place in a residential home if a place became available.In the meantime, Mrs O was sleeping each night in a hard-backed chair in her kitchen because she was unable to put herself to bed.The professional caregivers visiting twice a day came to feed her in the evening but at too early a time to put her to bed.Since our story appeared last week, reader Liz Stewart has organised additional care on an evening from another agency and is trying to raise funds to pay for it.Ms H said yesterday she wanted to make clear that Preferred Choice Homecare were doing an excellent job.“Preferred Choice Homecare did exactly what they were hired to do and if I had more funds I would have extended their hours accordingly,” she said. “Preferred Choice Homecare came to my rescue when I needed them and always gave me great service.”The home where Mrs O lives has an annual rental value of $28,200, according to the Land Valuation Department.Mr S said he hadn’t had the property appraised for years but knew it needed extensive renovation, as well as a right of way created, since it is currently “landlocked” with no proper access.“If we sold it we won’t get what we should get for it,” he said. “Some floorboards are loose. The bathroom is not sharp. We have got some windows that are dropping out. The place is serious.“My sister and I just recently renovated houses of our own so we are cash-strapped. We don’t have cash to put towards this.“My sister and I, we have been trying to work with the senior people [NOSPC] to work something out.”He added he had mortgage payments to meet, as did his sister. “We are both in the same pot. We have a big mortgage and we are struggling to pay it back.“There’s not even like I have room where I could have taken her in. I have got three bedrooms and my children and my girlfriend’s children. My house is full.”The LCCA (Lady Cubitt Compassionate Association) has agreed to collect money to pay for Mrs O’s care.Anyone wanting to make a donation needs to specify that it is for Mrs O. Donations can be mailed or delivered to the LCCA at the following addresses: LCCA, PO Box HM 64, Hamilton, HM AX or LCCA, 26 Bermudiana Road, International Ctr Suite 211, Hamilton, HM 11.Donations may also be made to LCCA account #010-287-209-001 at HSBC. Please follow up your deposit by calling the LCCA on 292-1132 to advise the amount deposited and to specify that the funds are for Mrs O.n If you plan to hold a fundraising event for Mrs O, please let us have the details. E-mail sstrangeways[AT]royalgazette.bm.