Re: OT: PSA for those with older relatives/friends


Lisa Cook wrote:
My mom called this morning. My 92 year old grandmother, who lives alone,
fell and broke her hip and thigh and was unable to move. She fell on
SATURDAY and wasn't found until last night, when a worried friend jimmied
open her locked door. :-( She had 4 days of lying on the floor with
broken hip & thigh. She lives in Northern NH and it got very chilly at
night (low 40s) and she had turned the heat off for the day on Saturday
before she fell. She managed to pull the tablecloth down from the dining
room table to try and stay warm. Once she was found, she then had a heart
attack from the stress of it all. She's still hanging in there, as of this
morning, but the prognosis is grim.

Being of old Yankee stock, she was fiercely independent, and, yes, somewhat
cantankerous. She refused to participate in the town program where senior
citizens were called each day and if there was no answer, someone would drop
by their house. She certainly refused to carry the type of personal alarm
that people can use to call for help if they've fallen and can't get up.

If you have a senior person in your life who lives alone...PLEASE....if they
don't have a plan in place in the event of a fall....make a plan. If they
are independent and stubborn, tell them about my grandma going 4 days before
she was found....see if they will agree to a daily check-in system or carry
an alarm-notification on their person. I wish we had insisted on such a
plan for my grandmother, despite her protests that she was fine. Thank you
for bearing with me.

Lisa Cook
Brookline, NH

Sending Prayers.

JenniferR

ps. My stepmother was the first person to find "Jayne". She had been
dead in her trailer over 30 days in the intense Texas heat. The funeral
was with a "closed casket". Jayne's 43 yr old son died of a massive
heartattack less than 6 months later and we attribute it partially to
the immense guilt and loss he felt. Everyone thought Jayne was spending
the month with her son out of town but, apparently he and his wife
refused to take her in.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: OT: PSA for those with older relatives/friends
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