{"id":4437,"date":"2026-07-14T07:06:50","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T07:06:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=4437"},"modified":"2026-07-14T07:06:50","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T07:06:50","slug":"82-year-old-north-carolina-woman-survives-nine-days-trapped-in-bathtub-after-fall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=4437","title":{"rendered":"82-year-old North Carolina woman survives nine days trapped in bathtub after fall"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

A North Carolina senior citizen said she miraculously survived being trapped in her bathtub for nine days by using her foot to turn the faucet and splash water toward her face to drink after suffering a crippling fall.<\/p>\n

Read more Lindsay Clancy\u2019s husband expected to\u00a0testify\u00a0on her behalf during mom\u2019s trial for allegedly murdering their 3 young kids<\/a><\/p>\n

Joan Rivet, 82, was getting ready for bed at her home in Clyde \u2014 nestled in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, about 150 miles outside Charlotte \u2014 on June 1 when she tripped in the bathroom and fell backward into her bathtub, tearing down her shower curtain and sending the rod crashing down on top of her, she told The Mountaineer.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy first thought was, \u2018oh my goodness, what did I do?’\u201d Rivet, who has been a widow since 2023 and now lives alone, told the outlet while recovering from her bed at the Skyland Terrace Rehabilitation Center.<\/p>\n

Rivet said severe back pain from the fall made it impossible to hoist herself over the edge of the tub \u2014 and she spent hours crying out for help to no avail, with only the sound of her cat Phoebe meowing outside the bathroom door.<\/p>\n

Those hours quickly turned into days as she slipped in and out of consciousness from her injuries.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d see it get dark and lighter, dark and lighter. I lost track, to be honest, of the days,\u201d she told the outlet.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were times I was crying out and I said, \u2018Lord, help, help, help release the pain.’\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Rivet, who had no children and didn\u2019t work, said she wasn\u2019t sure if help would come but was determined to survive the horrifying ordeal.<\/p>\n

She said she fought through the pain of her injuries to turn the bathtub faucet with her foot and was able to drink the water splashing against her face for days to survive.<\/p>\n

It wouldn\u2019t be until several days later that her brother, Bill Lesko, living five hours away in Georgia, grew worried after not hearing from his sister.<\/p>\n

\u201cI called a couple of days with no answer,\u201d Lesko told The Mountaineer. \u201cI thought, well, maybe the phone isn\u2019t connected, or she\u2019s not answering, or she\u2019s busy, but after several days I realized she\u2019s not answering, something\u2019s not right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Padres\u2019 Mason Miller taking reported Yankees trade interest as \u2018compliment\u2019 ahead of deadline<\/a><\/p>\n

Lesko reached out to her neighbors, who told him her car was in the driveway \u2014 but they couldn\u2019t see any signs of anyone moving around in the home.<\/p>\n

As his concerns about her safety mounted, Lesko contacted the Haywood County Sheriff\u2019s Office to request a wellness check.<\/p>\n

When officers finally arrived at her home on June 10, they found Rivet semi-conscious in the tub and rushed her to the hospital.<\/p>\n

Rivet said she doesn\u2019t remember being rescued, but when she reached the hospital, doctors told her she was severely malnourished, dehydrated, and covered in bed sores from spending days in the same position.<\/p>\n

She has slowly regained her strength after being treated with IVs and liquid nutrition and has since been transferred to a rehabilitation center in nearby Waynesville.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Phoebe, who was left without food or water for the nine days Rivet was trapped, also survived, according to The Mountaineer.<\/p>\n

The harrowing ordeal has prompted Rivet to plan a move to Georgia to live with her brother.<\/p>\n

\u201cI spent a lot of time praying, there\u2019s no doubt about that. And figuring out how to get out of the tub, and thanking the Lord that I was still alive,\u201d Rivet told the outlet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I stayed away from the dark side of the whole situation because once you go down there, how do you get out?\u201d <\/p>\n

Read more Exclusive | Judge orders arrest of Bill Belichick\u2019s daughter-in-law in North Carolina<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Joan Rivet, 82, was getting ready for bed at her home in Clyde \u2014 nestled in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, about 150 miles outside Charlotte \u2014 on June 1 when she tripped in the bathroom and fell backward into her bathtub, tearing down her shower curtain and sending the rod crashing down on top of her.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4436,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-news"],"yoast_head":"\n82-year-old North Carolina woman survives nine days trapped in bathtub after fall - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=4437\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"82-year-old North Carolina woman survives nine days trapped in bathtub after fall - 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