A Sydney great-grandmother has been given a heartwarming lifeline thanks to builder Pierre Lykourezos, after she was left without an emergency staircase by tradesman Leon Leonidas Tsounakas.
Bernice Miller, 91, was left devastated when Tsounakas, who had been paid $32,000 for the job, removed her spiral staircase and failed to replace it, leaving the top floor of her three-storey home without a fire escape.
“I told him I was worried. I told him if there was a fire I’d need that fire escape,” she told A Current Affair at the time. “He doesn’t care.”
After her story aired on national television, Lykourezos and his team from Final Touch Building stepped in to rebuild the staircase free of charge — just in time for Bernice’s 91st birthday.
“I don’t know what to say, you’re amazing – thank you,” an emotional Bernice said as she hugged the builders.
Lykourezos added, “She is safe and happy now and that’s what matters to us.”
Tsounakas initially refused to pay a court order in Bernice’s favour, but has since started paying her back.
Source: A Current Affair
