Posted on 06/23/2010 9:15:42 AM PDT by MissTed
Neighbors had complained before about Mary Minter's unkempt yard, littered with weeds and debris. But that was nothing compared to the interior of the 38-year-old's Sandy Springs bungalow, as firefighters discovered earlier Tuesday. Minter had to be extricated from her home by four rescue personnel following a 911 call from an unidentified source. It took the firefighters 40 minutes to wade through "chest-high" debris that clogged the hallways of the modest residence, located in the Cherokee Park neighborhood just off Roswell Road.
Sandy Springs Deputy Fire Chief Jeff Scarbrough described the smell as "intolerable," though he didn't have to navigate his way through the trash. The firefighters who did had to be decontaminated, Scarbrough told the AJC. The Kitty Hawk Drive home, shrouded in overgrown ivy, has been condemned and Minter will be responsible for cleaning it up, said Marcus Kellum, Sandy Springs' chief of code enforcement.
(Excerpt) Read more at ajc.com ...
Can they ever be cured? Sure they can. Move them away far from their stuff. Been there, done that.
Yeah, I once got offered a roundtrip ticket from Dallas to Anchorage on a Thursday for $163. The only catch was that I had to leave the next day. I took it and spent a great 10 days in Alaska. There was no way I could pass that up.
now, can’t do that with family.
TLC had “Hoarding: Buried Alive” and it was interesting. There is no cure; the person must choose not to act on the impulse, which at its root, really is just pathological selfishness. I was amazed at the hoarders with families - they would inflict these horrible living conditions on their spouses and children but when confronted would whine that their families “did not respect their stuff.”
“...when confronted would whine that their families “did not respect their stuff.”
Exactly. I have had a bit of experience in that department. We found that really the only thing that works if to take complete control and not allow the hoarder to make any suggestions. The hoarder must be removed from the situation. If the hoarder will not agree, then the job cannot be done.
Sounds tough, but it’s the only way.
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