Woman, 92, is rescued after being impaled on a bathtub faucet

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.


http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/286365p-245095c.html

Poor lady. Can you imagine? When I lived in apts I was watching TV one evening and playing with my dau. Kept hearing a voice calling help. Not very loud and didn't sound urgent, no screams etc. Thought maybe it was the TV. Finally, I opened my door and left it open to listen for it. The old lady who lived across the hall from me had fallen and broken her arm and hip. She couldn't get to a phone and had been there for about 6 hrs. She was scared and in pain and starting to get confused. She never came back, ended up in a nursing home. Scary to think about because if I hadn't heard her, she would have died there.