Pretoria woman (80) helpless for three days
The elderly woman spent about three awful days lying on the floor with a broken leg before community members came to check up on her.
An 80-year-old Moot woman, who spent almost three days of horror lying on the floor of her home in severe pain before finally receiving first aid, is recovering well, voluntary caregiver Natalie Sutton said.
“She used to have a lot of pain but now feels much better,” Sutton told Rekord on Wednesday.
The voluntary caregiver, who regularly helps Marie Heystek, said it was difficult in the beginning for the elderly woman to change clothes.
“She used to be in pain when I change her clothes but now she is happy and getting stronger.”
She said Heystek’s recovery would have to be officially confirmed by a doctor during their next visit at the Steve Biko academic hospital on Thursday.
“What she needs now is lots of love to fully recover and work through the trauma of the ordeal.”
Sutton said Heystek apparently fell off a stepladder trying to paint a ceiling in her kitchen earlier last month.
Heystek and her husband Joost (83) live alone and Joost, who is in a frail condition, does not even know how to use a cellphone, she said.
Marie was found almost three days later on the floor of her bedroom by members of the community and those of Community Policing Forum (CPF) who went to check up on the couple.
According to Moot CPF chairperson Elsabe van Staden, they found paint, a paint roller brush and the stepladder in the house.
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“She apparently crawled from the kitchen into the bedroom. She spent almost three days there before she received help,” Van Staden said.
Sutton said she found Marie helplessly lying on the floor and unable to reach the bed.
“She was very weak, scared, confused and barely recognised people around her,” Sutton said.
She said the elderly woman was found in severe pain and she had even peed herself as she could not access the bathroom.
“She wanted to stand up on her own but she couldn’t because of the injury. She was in a lot of pain.”
Sutton said they picked her up and put her on her bed.
Paramedics were called in to provide first aid and she was transported to the Steve Biko academic hospital.
Marie has since been discharged after spending three days in a hospital bed.
A large part of her leg is covered in plaster cast.
She is recovering from home under the daily care and supervision of community members.
Sutton and Natasha van Tonder bathe the elderly woman daily, change her clothes, help her take medication and transport her to the hospital for follow-up visits.
They also give meals to the elderly couple and their two dogs.
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