Woman Saved by Postal Worker After Being Trapped in Bathtub for 5 Days
It was a crisp October day when a postal worker became concerned that something wasn’t quite right at a Michigan woman’s home.
He noticed the woman’s overflowing mailbox, indicating she hadn’t collected her mail in quite a few days. Concerned, the postal worker turned to the woman’s neighbors for information.
The neighbors sprang into action, circling Alison Gibson’s home, yelling through windows to see if she was inside.
Emotions ran high as Gibson’s worried voice called back to them, explaining that she had been stuck in her bathtub for five days.
Police officers quickly arrived on the scene and helped the 54-year-old out of the tub and to a hospital, where she stayed for four days.
Gibson was released from the hospital and is back home, thankful for the alertness of the postal worker and the neighbors who came to her rescue.
Gibson explained that she’d been in her tub when she found herself unable to reach the handrail to climb out. She struggled to get up, to no avail.
For five long days, Gibson sat in her tub, alone, battling hunger, worry and cold temperatures.
“When I got cold, I ran the hot water,” she told Inside Edition. “And when I got thirsty, I ran the cold water and drank the cold water out of my hand.”
Lansing Police Chief Stacey Wilburn was one of the officers to respond to the heartbreaking scene. After five long days alone in the tub, Gibson was incredibly grateful to see her rescue team.
“In the bathroom when we opened the door the back of it was covered in mold,” Wilburn said. “The floors were soaking wet, the paint on the walls was bubbling from all of the moisture and actually the ceiling was dripping wet.”
Gibson is doing OK after her ordeal and said she plans to install a walk-in tub to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
Gibson’s story is a reminder of the importance of living in a community and watching out for one another.
Thanks to the watchful eyes and appropriate actions of her postal worker, Gibson’s story has a happy ending.
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