For more than six hours yesterday a 92-year-old Harlem woman banged on the walls and desperately screamed for help after she was impaled on a bathtub faucet, officials said.
Between noon and about 6p.m., residents ignored the noise, thinking someone was working on the plumbing at 45 E. 135th St. Two neighbors finally used a key to get into the 8th-floor apartment and found Thelma Riley naked with a four-pronged metal faucet knob stuck in her lower back.
"She was lucky," said Lt. James McCluskey of the FDNY's Ladder 30. "It's a good thing she didn't bleed out."
Fire officials said Riley, who lived alone, slipped and fell while taking a shower.
"She's a wonderful lady," said one of her neighbors at the Riverton apartments. "She's an elegant woman. I'm devastated by the news."
Firefighters found Riley in the seated position with the sharp cold-water knob painfully holding her prisoner. She was conscious and talking as emergency workers gave her oxygen and tried to keep her calm. Within minutes, Kevin Shanahan fetched a pair of bolt cutters and handed them off to Greg Williams. Both are firefighters assigned to Ladder 30. Williams cut the stem that connected the knob to the faucet, freeing the woman.
Firefighters covered Riley in a sheet and placed her on a gurney in the hallway. She was taken to Harlem Hospital with the knob still in her back. She was in stable condition last night after getting the knob removed. (NY Daily News)
Ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!!!
Listen to the whole thing:
http://www.rlharkins.com/Media/voicemail1.wav
That's so wierd.
I really don't understand how that could happen?!