- For days on end, this woman had nothing to eat and could drink water only by splashing it on her face.
The phrase “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” has become something of an internet meme in the past decade or so. When it was introduced in the ‘80s, though, it highlighted a real life-threatening situation for old folks.
A situation this North Carolina woman found herself in.
Joan Rivet is an 82-year-old lady who lives on her own. Recently, while washing herself in her bathroom, she slipped and fell into her bathtub.
After the tumble, she found herself unable to get up. Try as she might, she was injured and didn’t have the strength to pull herself out of the tub.
Rivet called for help, but no one could hear her. For the next nine days, she remained in her bathtub, utterly helpless.
The old woman had no food, but she managed to drink some water by splashing it onto her face. After more than a week, Rivet’s brother alerted the police, who discovered the octogenarian during a welfare check.
Fortunately, this story has a happy ending. Although she was very weak, Rivet is recovering and has said she will move in with her family to prevent further incidents.
Sudden Fall
Rivet lives in the small mountain town of Clyde, some 20 miles from the city of Asheville. Her husband passed away in 2023, and River has been on her own in her house since.
On June 1, she was doing her regular bedtime routine, brushing her teeth and washing her face before turning in. At one point, however, she took one step backward and lost her balance.
Rivet tumbled into her bathtub, ripping the shower rod and curtain off the walls as she went down. She hit her back, and a sharp pain shot through her body.
Then the real horror of the situation set in. Rivet attempted to get up – but she couldn’t.
Despite exerting all her strength, the old woman found herself unable to pull herself back to her feet. She called for help, but the only one who could hear her was her cat Phoebe, who was meowing alarmed at the base of the tub.
‘Lord, Help’
Stuck in the tub, Rivet kept yelling for help. Her telephone was in another room, so her only hope was that someone would eventually hear her.
No one did. Soon, hours passed, and then days. Rivet recalled that the bathroom got “dark and lighter, dark and lighter” as days rolled on.
“Lord, help, help, help release the pain,” Rivet recalled praying.
Having been preparing for bed before her fall, she had nothing to eat over her ordeal. Rivet realized, though, that she needed to drink water.
That’s where the situation had a silver lining. Having fallen into her tub, Rivet said she was able to turn the faucet on using her foot. She could then drink small amounts by splashing water onto her face.
Yet, throughout her horrible experience, Rivet said that she tried to keep her mind in a positive place through prayer.
“I stayed away from the dark side of the whole situation because once you go down there – how do you get out?” she wondered.
Brother’s Concern
Luckily, Rivet isn’t completely alone in the world. As the days went on, her brother, Bill Lesko, grew concerned.
Lesko lives in Georgia, but he calls his sister at least once a week to check in on her. In early June, though, Rivet stopped picking up the phone. She wouldn’t return his calls, either.
Worried that something might’ve happened, Lesko called Rivet’s neighbors. They reported they hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary, but soon realized they hadn’t seen anything at all. Rivet’s car was in the yard, but there had been no signs of life in the house recently.
On June 10, Lesko called the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office and asked them to do a welfare check on his sister. The deputies arrived at Rivet’s home and found the front door unlocked.
Inside the house, guided by faint noises, they found the disoriented and semi-conscious Rivet in the bathtub. They immediately called for help, and paramedics rushed to the scene.
‘Check on One Another’
The first responders took Rivet to the hospital in a rough state. Despite being able to get some water, she was severely dehydrated and had developed bed sores from lying mostly motionless for days.
At the hospital, Rivet was hooked up to an IV to administer fluids and liquid food. Soon enough, she started recovering, although the woman said she has no memory whatsoever of her rescue.
A month later, she was doing much better.
“I’m warm, I’m dry. I had a shower this morning – hallelujah – they washed my hair. I’ve had food and water,” she said, adding that she was content.
Yet, the experience led Rivet to reevaluate what she can and can’t do in her advanced age. As such, she has arranged to go live with her family in Georgia.
Rivet also added that she now understands much better the importance of a caring community. She encourages everyone to stay in at least cordial contact with their neighbors – especially older ones – to prevent something like this from happening.
“I have two other neighbors that live alone, too, and now we say we need to check on one another,” said Rivet.
A bathtub is a strange place to get stuck, but it’s not the only one. Read more stories like this in our list of 6 People Who Got Stuck in Bizarre Places.