AURORA, Colo. -- A man in Aurora is literally sick of his apartment. He reached out to Denver7 about the smell of sewer gas coming from his bathroom and said smell is so bad, he has had to go to the emergency room twice.
Aside from it being smelly and disgusting, experts said sewer smell can actually affect your health if you continuously breathe it in.
David Wilson, the resident who reached out for help, said he is fed up and essentially trapped because he can’t afford to break his lease. The fumes have sent him to the hospital and have temporarily separated him from his family.
"[I] Clog up the bathroom sink and I have to clog up the bathtub just to be able to have some kind of relief," Wilson said.
Wilson has only lived in his apartment for two months.
"Rotten eggs. This is what has been causing me to be sick and the property manager doesn’t want to do anything about it."
But he said the smell of rotten eggs isn't the only thing keeping him awake at night.
"Dizziness, waking up coughing, eyes burning. Throat burning. Not being able to focus like I normally do. I'm normally a healthy guy."
He said doctors and poison control told him to get out of there.
"I’m on medication now, high blood pressure medication and nausea medication," said Wilson.
But that's not the worst of it: his young daughter can't even live with him.
"I'm angry. I'm sad. I’m not able to have my daughter here and that's my heart."
He told Denver7 that he told management at the Park Place at Expo apartments about the situation right away and it took them more than a week to call a plumber to assess the issue.
"He snaked the sink. Nothing was in it and I asked how can't you smell the smell? He's said I can't smell it, everything's alright."
With nothing resolved, he called the City of Aurora next.
"One code officer didn't even have to go into the bathroom, when the door opened he smelled it," said Wilson.
They wrote a notice of violation on August 21, giving the managers on site one week to have it fixed, but as of Wednesday, nothing has been done to fix the problem.
"The complex didn't even offer me a fan to put in the window, another space, even anything,” said Wilson. “It was like forget you, pay us. Deal with it."
Denver7 tried to find out why the smell or issue in the pipes had not been fixed. Management, on site, could not provide any comment.
Wilson is tired of hearing that.
"Either give me my money back and let me go. Set me free," said Wilson.
Denver7 is waiting to hear back from the City of Aurora and Echelon property group.
