The squalor that Kathy Sansoin lived in became public earlier this year, when her husband and mother died after living for a month without any heat in their Longueuil home.

Paramedics were barely able to get inside because the house was full of junk.

When the city learned of the mess inside the home, Sansoin was locked out and told she could only return in order to clean up.

Eight months later she had barely made a dent in shifting the debris accumulated over decades, and felt absolutely powerless to cope.

"I'm alone now. If it weren't for the dogs and cats..I think I might well have committed suicide," said Sansoin.

So Sansoin contacted CTV for help, and CTV put her in touch with a waste disposal company.

On September 23, Gilles Dube entered the house with a camera in tow, and he was horrified by what he found: barely passable corridors; every flat surface, including the floor, piled to overflowing with food and other items; cats had free rein, and with overflowing litter boxes hair and feces covered much of the junk.

Sansoin's basement was full of projects and craft materials that had never been used.

Her long-time friend Fernard Genereux said the reason Sansoin had accumulated so much junk was deceptively simple.

"She likes buying stuff. If it's for sale, she buys it," said Genereux.

Sansoin said the reason she never dealt with anything was because of her ailing family members.

"I had promised both my husband and my mother that I would take care of them until I could no longer take care of them."

In the end, the house was filled with so much stuff, and the house was so poorly maintained, that much of the home's contents were covered with mould.


Cleaning up

After touring Sansoin's house, Dube explained that in order for anyone to live in the building again the house would have to be completely emptied.

At first, Sansoin seemed receptive, telling Dube "it's junk," but Dube was not so sure.

"She wants to keep everything close to her and she sees great value in all her belongings so definitely it's a case of a hoarder.

"We need to help that lady get out of this mess," said Dube.

Soon after his crew came to work, carting things away, filling trucks with ruined items, some of them still in boxes, or with price tags still attached.

"For me, it's the worst I've ever seen," said Dube.

Acting under city orders to clean up as soon as possible, Dube's crew sorted items into storage, recycling, and garbage and expected to fill six trucks.

Despite being supervised by a fire prevention officer and the Chief Inspector for the city of Longeuil, it led to several screaming bouts from Sansoin who could not believe her items were worthless.

"I'm not going to say I'm a hoarder because from what I've seen typically on TV, I am not a hoarder. But yes I do have trouble letting go of certain things," said Sansoin.

Her social workers had to take Sansoin away until she could calm down.

Tough love, but the city said it had waited long enough.

"The judge gave an order to clean the house so by law when you get an order you have to do it," said Francois Buchanan of Longueuil.

"She didn't do the job in the delay we gave her."

The mess was larger than Dube anticipated, and his crew returned the following day to tackle the basement, and a room at the front of the house that was once filled with sewage.

Sansoin arrived around noon, and furious, said that her house was no longer her home.


Accepting the problem

Astounding as the debris-filled home may seem, hoarders are actually fairly common.

The city of Montreal says it has to clean up more than two dozen homes each year.

Gail Adams is a recovering hoarder who once lost everything when she was evicted.

"it's very traumatic for people," said Adams. "I think there are better ways of doing it."

Adams offered to meet with Sansoin to help her cope with the cleanup.

When the two met, Sansoin recognized Adams from a story CTV News did in the spring, and greets her like an old friend.

After an hour's conversation, Sansoin starts to realize that she has a problem that she cannot cope with on her own, and agrees to join a support group.

Adams thinks Quebec needs to do more to help communities deal with hoarders, and help coordinate effocrts to help hoarders before they lose their homes.

"She was left on her own with the problem. Instead of just giving her a deadline she should have been given some help from someone who is more of an expert in hoarding," said Adams.

As for Sansoin, Adams said "I know it's painful for her to do this but once she gets her place cleaned up I'm sure she's going to feel better."

Returning to her home, empty, Sansoin has finally started to realize what a normal house looks like.

"You say to yourself 'well I don't have garbage lying around my house. I'm not a hoarder. I'm just a collector.' But it turns out that you are. You're a hoarder," said Sansoin.

For now she will live at her cottage, without running water and with minimal heat.

But she seems determined to not let her life return to a garbage-strewn state.

"I could have continued happily living this like this for the next 20 years and never known that anything was really wrong."




Ami-Quebec helps people with mental illness.

Reach the agency at 514-486-1448 or online.