Elderly man fears eviction over bedbug infestation

An senior citizen in St. John's is living with a problem that seems to be cropping up more and more in the capital city bedbugs.

George Pearce lives alone in his apartment building, Mount Pleasant Manor, where bedbugs have been reported.

Property managers Martek brought in exterminators to get rid of the bugs, but Pearce, 74, can't seem to shake the annoying pests.

Orkin Canada was called in again this week to exterminate, but left without doing so because Pearce's apartment wasn't ready.

"They have to wash and dry all their laundry, they have to vacuum off their bed, wash and dry the linens on their bed," Tom Furey of Orkin said.

Having survived a heart attack and a brain aneurysm, these simple tasks aren't easy for Pearce. His family isn't around to help him and his friends are worried about contamination.

Friend, Pearl Clancey, said she has been assisting Pearce, but the bed bugs ended up in her car.

"I feel so sorry and scared and I can't go in to help him," Clancey said, "I am devastated and somebody needs to do something."

"Right up to last night they were crawling up the chesterfield. Nobody should have to live like that."

Because of his lack of compliance, Pearce faces possible eviction.

"If we have to go back a second time to do the treatment because the prep work wasn't completed fully, the bugs are resilient to it so its more difficult for us and the tenants," Furey told CBC.

The seniors resource centre says it can help people like George Pearce if they contact them.