A FORMER soldier left with brain damage finally has the freedom to enjoy her home after her stairlift was fixed at the 11th hour.

Gina Brannigan, from Newton Aycliffe, was forced to sleep, wash and use a comode in her living room for six weeks after the equipment broke down due to a faulty footplate. The stairlift’s manufacturer ThyssenKrupp Encasa (TK Encasa) initially refused to repair the stairlift under warranty, claiming the fault must have been caused through misuse. However, after The Northern Echo intervened, the company carried out the repairs.

Miss Brannigan, 38, who joined the army in 1997 and has served in Kosovo and Sierra Leone, said it had given her her life back.

Her fiancé and full time carer, Mark Shalliker, added: “It’s made such a difference. She can access her bedroom and her clothes and use the bathroom instead of being stranded downstairs.”

Miss Brannigan’s Army career was cut short when she suffered a brain stem cavernoma in 2002. She is now unable to stand unaided and suffers from restricted speech.