By DON DARE
6 On Your Side Consumer Investigator
KNOXVILLE (WATE) - A disabled Knoxville woman is frightened of the bed bugs that infested her apartment, and she can't move her arms to swat them.
Cathy Perkins said she tried for months to have apartment management treat her unit before she called 6 On Your Side.
Bed bugs can live in any area of a home, but they prefer tiny cracks in furniture. They tend to be found most commonly in bedrooms, including mattresses and box springs. That's where they were found in Cathy's apartment bedroom.
Cathy has muscular dystrophy. She's one of Jerry Lewis' kids. The 30-year-old Bearden High School graduate has never been able to move her legs, and she lost the use of her arms 17 years ago.
For the last few days, Cathy was sleeping in her living room. She says she's afraid to sleep in her bedroom and her special hospital bed because of the bed bugs.
"It's very frightening for me because I can't scratch. Those are several bed bugs that my nurses have found," she said. "I can't move so they could be just crawling all over me."
Cathy's day nurse, Lisa Burnette, said, "When I was getting her up Tuesday morning, I found the bug right there up above her bed. It was a live bug."
After Lisa squashed it, "That's blood and I got a piece of tape and when you touch them, they explode with blood."
Lisa says she and the night nurse established that the apartment has problems with bed bugs.
Cathy lives at Guy B. Love Towers, a low income housing facility run by the Knoxville Community Development Corp. She says management was notified about the bed bugs weeks ago, but little has been done. "They'll come up and they will inspect the bed, but they don't find anything. So they don't spray even though they see the bugs that I have found."
Cathy's mother, Elizabeth Redheffer, says weeks ago she brought the bugs to the attention of management at Love Towers. However, "They didn't get a move on it. To me, it's serious."
Mark Nadolski, with Russell's Pest Control, says bed bugs hide in the smallest places in and around beds and box springs, and killing them isn't easy.
"Well the sure fire way now is heat. If we can get the temperature above 105 degrees and hold that for some time, we can kill the eggs and the adults," he explained. "There are some sprays that are labeled for bed bugs and they work fairly well, but we're starting to see some persistence in the insects against those products."
Cathy says management is finally going to treat her apartment at Love Towers.
KCDC Director Alvin Nance sent his mangers back to talk with Cathy to reassure her. "We treat a unit for bed bugs. We treat each unit on each side of that unit and above and below that unit," he explained.
The bed bugs like Cathy found in her apartment are common in public housing. KCDC is very aware of the problem. "We've spent close to $130,000 last year for bed bug treatment, and we've budgeted this year a little over $200,000," Nance said.
Cathy will be happy to see the bed bugs gone. "I think it's good, but I think it might be too late as far as saving any of my furniture."
KCDC says it believes Cathy's furniture will not have to be thrown away. They will take steps to try to save it.
Cathy's apartment was treated Monday, and she's back in it.
If you have a consumer issue, call the 6 On Your Side Hotline at 865-633-5974 or email ddare@wate.com.
"I can't move so they could be just crawling all over me," Cathy Perkins said.
"That's blood and I got a piece of tape and when you touch them, they explode with blood," Lisa Burnette said.
