The husband of an elderly hoarder who was trapped under decades of junk for 14 hours has revealed his wife’s obsession with collecting rubbish spans more than 40 years, and almost killed her.
Lynette Sullivan, 65, was rescued from her overflowing Canley Vale home, in Sydney’s south west, on Monday, after she was discovered stuck underneath piles of garbage.
Her husband John, 71, told Daily Mail Australia he has been forced to live in his car on the front lawn of their house for the past year because he was so fed up with the garbage filling every room of the house.
John revealed Mrs Sullivan suffered a stroke, which caused her to fall on Sunday night, before the rubbish covered her.
John Sullivan’s wife, Lynette, suffered a stroke and was found buried under mounds of rubbish at the couple’s Canley Vale home in Sydney’s south-west on Monday
John said Lynette began hoarding not long after the couple moved into their Delamere Street home about 40 years ago. Above, she is rescued by paramedics this week
An old Woman’s Day and newspapers with two-decade-old articles about Princess Diana’s death were spotted amongst the piles of rubbish at the property
Lynette’s husband John was sleeping in the Toyota Camry Vienta out the front. He was unaware his wife was trapped inside
‘My wife’s in hospital, she had a stroke and collapsed… she fell on top of [the piles of junk] and it came down on top of her,’ he said.
John revealed his wife’s hoarding problem started not long after they moved into their Delamere Street home about 40 years ago.
‘I don’t know what set it off, she’s always hoarded things but it kept getting worse and once it became a habit she couldn’t stop,’ he said.
‘I’ve tried to stop her but she wouldn’t take any notice of me, she says she can’t stop.’
Mrs Sullivan’s mother died about three years ago and most of her possessions ended up in her daughter’s home.
The home now has junk piled to the ceiling in every room with barely enough space to squeeze between the mounds.
After 45 years of marriage, Mr Sullivan couldn’t take it anymore and started sleeping in his old white Toyota Camry outside a year ago, only coming in for showers and meals.
‘We didn’t have a fight or anything, I just got sick of living amongst all of it,’ he said.
It was difficult to find his own possessions, including family photos, because they were buried under so much junk.
The couple’s front garden was littered with cardboard boxes, old magazines and even McDonalds packets
Lowes bags, uneaten chocolate bars and a copy of a newspaper featuring a story about a 2002 crime were piled up out the front of the suburban Sydney home
Old Cadbury Dairy Milk bars and Caramello Koalas were piled up alongside ancient publications
A look at the Sullivan home’s yard, where gardening eqipment was stacked up nearby
He and a neighbour opened the front door on Monday when his wife didn’t answer phone calls, but called police about 10am when they couldn’t get inside for all the junk.
Police and firefighters had to break a window and form a human chain to remove enough trash to free Mrs Sullivan.
‘They were shocked by what they saw, they were shaking their heads when they came out,’ neighbour Gary Bhurra said.
Mrs Sullivan collapsed from her stroke and fell on to piles of hoarded junk, which fell on top of her and covered her whole body.
The former Salvation Army shop volunteer was taken to Liverpool Hospital where she is recovering with a bruised leg.
‘She has paralysis down the left side of her face but she can move her arm and make a fist,’ Mr Sullivan said.
‘She knows what she’s doing, she has all her faculties about her and is aware of what’s going on around her.’
The long-suffering husband said the experience would at least force his wife to get the help she needed.
‘We’ve got people coming to clear out the house after she gets out of hospital,’ he said.
A tiny fraction of the rubbish was left piled outside including a Woman’s Day magazine from 1998 and newspapers with articles about Princess Diana’s death.
These photos show inside the car where John Sullivan has been living while his wife resides inside amongst her hoarded collections
A neighbour said: ‘John was ostracised out the front of the house and sometimes needed help charging the car battery, especially in winter’
The mound of junk also contained a box of chocolates that expired 21 years ago, uneaten mini Mars bars, and hand-scrawled phone numbers from before the eighth digit was added.
This pile was cleared away by the local council early on Tuesday morning but the the litter inside the house was still clearly visible.
Her garden was littered with items including a stack of full cardboard boxes, an old bench and a plastic barrel packed with metal poles.
Another neighbour said the couple lived in the house for 40 years and hoarding was a longstanding issue.
‘They had a break-in 20 years ago and I went over to help. The burglars must have got a shock, there was nothing to steal, just junk,’ he said.
Emergency service workers spent about two hours trying to free the woman from the rubbish and help her to safety
The man said the hoarded possessions were a metre high back then and there was barely enough space to squeeze past them.
The neighbour said Mr Sullivan slept in the car and spent much of his time there.
‘John was ostracised out the front of the house and sometimes needed help charging the car battery, especially in winter,’ he said. ‘
‘It’s a crazy way to live. I think John gave up a long time ago.
‘I asked him three years ago if he was going to do anything about it and he didn’t answer.’