A 32-year-old man ended up with a collapsed lung and the near-fatal infection sepsis from inhaling spores due to excessive mold in his apartment.

Matthew Langsworth, who lives in council housing — the UK’s term for public housing — says he first noticed mold in his apartment in 2013 and notified management. Although work was done on his apartment in the English town of Leamington Spa, it “obviously did not eradicate it,” he tells Kennedy News and Media via The Daily Mail. “I’ve had continuous intestinal problems and skin conditions,” along with problems breathing, he says.

He alleges the mold was “redecorated over” and covered with paint instead of removed, and that it caused him to develop a condition called invasive aspergillosis, which the U.S. Centers for Disease Control says is the “most serious” form of infection that the mold can cause.

“I’ve now been told by a doctor everything I’ve experienced over the last 10 years is all mold related,” he told the outlet. “Before all this happened I lived a very active life. I was in the gym two to three times a week. I would go on six- to seven-mile walks at the weekend. Now I can’t even walk to the shop without having to stop.”

Langworth says that his condition took a turn for the worse in August 2023 when he had a leak in his kitchen. His landlord told the outlet repairs included “replacing in their entirety both his kitchen and bathroom and more recently installing new flooring throughout.”

But within two weeks of returning home after the three-month long repair job, he says his lung collapsed from pneumonia and he was rushed to the hospital. Then he developed the life-threatening infection sepsis.

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“The doctors were wiping tears from my eyes because I thought I was going to die,” he said. “The mold has attacked my body. The doctor told me my body was doing its best fighting it and then decided it couldn’t cope anymore.”

Langsworth estimates that 75% of his apartment has mold in it, but since the council housing still deems it fit for living, he is not eligible to be placed in a new apartment.

According to the Daily Mail, Langsworth’s landlord confirmed that mold was present in his home, and “we will of course continue to work with Mr. [Langsworth] to complete any further repairs that may be needed and continue to provide further reassurance that his home is free from damp and mold.”