By Allison Steele
The Philadelphia Inquirer
PHILADELPHIA — Firefighters rescued a 93-year-old woman Tuesday who got stuck on the toilet in her apartment and was trapped there for at least two days.
The woman, who has not been identified, is resting at Temple University Hospital in stable condition. She was tired and dehydrated when found but otherwise unhurt, officials said.
The woman resides alone in the Tioga Presbyterian Apartments, an independent-living building for senior citizens in the city’s Tioga section. The building provides no medical services or assisted-living care. It houses residents who are older than 62.
Firefighters said the woman was stuck for two or three days, Chief William Dell said.
“We’re glad she was found when she was,” he said.
A fellow resident in the woman’s building reportedly saw her Sunday, said Dan Magee, spokesman for Presby’s Inspired Life, the nonprofit organization that operates the building.
Tuesday morning, a representative from the Philadelphia Corporation on Aging made a scheduled call to the woman to check on her. When there was no answer, the representative called the apartment building manager, who later went to the woman’s apartment and called the Fire Department for help.
Each apartment has an emergency cord in the bathroom that alerts building staff, Magee said, but the woman did not pull the cord.
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