The Plumber Who Fixed Elderly Woman's Boiler For Free Speaks To James O'Brien

18 September 2019, 13:10 | Updated: 18 September 2019, 13:15

This is the remarkable story of a plumber who fixed the boiler of an elderly woman with leukaemia every day for a week - and refused to take a penny for it.

James Anderson runs a not-for-profit plumbing company in Burnley and received worldwide attention after he refused to charge for the work he did in the 91-year-old's house.

On the receipt, Mr Anderson wrote: "Callout to boiler. High pressure and two leaks. Lady is 91 years of age, acute leukaemia, end of life care. No charge for the lady under any circumstances. We will be available 24-hour to help her and keep her as comfortable as possible."

The 91-year-old's daughter shared an image of the invoice and he has received praise from across the world.

Speaking to James O'Brien, he revealed that his business model involves helping the most vulnerable people in society - funding it with normal plumbing work and crowdfunding.

He said: "We started in 2017 and have been growing slowly and steadily, helping people. We've done 2,389 elderly and disabled jobs since then.

"We rely on donations from the public. We had £2,000 from the Duchy of Lancaster, the Queen's charity and we also do normal jobs to subsidise the charity work."

When asked why he's doing it, James said: "Because they deserve it. They are our past and they give us our future, so they deserve everything they get.

"I've seen situations when they don't want to ask for help, they don't want to ask family and friends for help even though they are struggling. I want to take away that situation and let them know there is a company there who will help them whenever they need it."

Donate to James Anderson's not-for-profit plumbing firm Depher