An elderly man from North Carolina recently shared his incredible story of survival after being stuck in a bathtub for nine days. He managed to turn on the faucet with his foot, splash water on his face, and drink from it while dealing with significant injuries from a fall.
Joan Rivett, 82, was preparing for bed at her home in Clyde on June 1 when she tripped and fell backward into the tub, causing the shower curtain to rip and the rod to fall on her. “My first thought was, ‘Oh my god, what have I done?'” she recounted while recovering at Skyland Terrace Rehabilitation Center.
Living alone since being widowed in 2023, Rivett struggled to pull herself up due to intense back pain. She cried out for help for hours, with only her cat Phoebe’s meows echoing from the other side of the bathroom door.
Days passed, and she drifted in and out of awareness due to her injuries. “It got dark and it got light… I’ve forgotten what it was like then,” she admitted.
Desperate, she kept praying, “Lord, please help me, please ease my pain,” yet remained determined to survive despite not knowing if rescue would come.
Rivett managed to turn the faucet with her foot and sip the water splashing onto her face, all while enduring the agony of her condition.
Meanwhile, her brother Bill Lesko, who lives five hours away in Georgia, grew worried when he couldn’t reach her for several days. “I thought maybe the phone was disconnected or she was just busy, but after a while, I sensed something was off,” he said.
He enlisted a neighbor to check on her, but with no signs of life inside the house despite her car being in the driveway, they became concerned. Finally, Lesko called the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office for a wellness check.
When deputies arrived on June 10, they found Rivett unconscious in the bathtub and immediately took her to the hospital.
Though she doesn’t remember her rescue, doctors later informed her that she was severely malnourished, dehydrated, and had developed bedsores from lying in one position for so long.
She slowly regained her health through IV fluids and liquid nutrition before being moved to a rehabilitation facility near Waynesville.
In another heartwarming note, Phoebe, her cat, also survived the ordeal, having been left without food or water for nine days alongside her owner.
Having gone through such a terrifying experience, Rivett plans to relocate to Georgia to be with her brother.
“I spent a lot of time praying, and I was grateful to figure out how to survive,” she reflected. “I think staying optimistic was crucial because if you slip into despair, how do you find your way out?”
