Old Woman Dies After Wheelchair Rolls Downhill During Fire Drill
October 29, 2012 2:00 PM A Decatur, Alabama nursing home is facing charges after allowing a 94-year-old wheelchair-bound woman to roll down a hill.Last Wednesday, during a fire drill exercise at the Country Cottage Assisted Care Facility, Elizabeth Street was one of a number of residents taken outside as staff refreshed on procedures in case of fire.
Few specific details have been released about the accident, but Decatur Fire and Emergency Services said they received a call last Wednesday from a care giver that a woman in her wheelchair had rolled down the hill and landed in a ditch full of water.
Stevens remarkably survived the spill, but died Saturday in the hospital. While the specific cause of death was not released, the woman apparently suffered from congestive heart failure and was admitted to the home last summer after breaking her hip in a fall. Sources say she might have contracted an illness from the water that combined with her heart issues led to her demise.
In what is probably the understatement of the year, the woman’s son-in-law, Wallace Everett told the Decatur Daily Newspaper:
“Our objective now is to better understand what happened, why this happened and what can be done to prevent it in the future.”
Not sure about you, but if that had been one of our family members, our statement would have probably been full of unprintable language!
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