Joan Rivet suffered a fall in her bathtub, where she remained trapped for nine days before being discovered during a well check. The 82-year-old North Carolina woman says she survived by turning the faucet on with her foot and drinking the water she managed to splash up to her face — all while drifting in and out of consciousness. Sheriff Bill Wilke confirmed that deputies from the Haywood County Sheriff’s Department found Rivet after her brother, Bill Lesko, who lives in Georgia, called them to do a well check. He became concerned when he couldn’t reach his sister by phone. He then called her neighbors, who said they noticed that Rivet’s car was in the driveway, but there had been no signs of movement inside. Deputies found the elderly woman semi-conscious in the bathtub. She later explained that she had been getting ready for bed when she took a step backwards in the bathroom and toppled over into the tub, pulling down the shower curtain and rod. After realizing that she had hurt her back and couldn’t pull herself out of the tub, she yelled for neighbors but they couldn’t hear her. Rivet said that prayer helped to keep her grounded. “I stayed away from the dark side of the whole situation, because once you go down there, how do you get out?” she said. She was transported to the hospital, where she received treatment and spent a few days recovering. Rivet said her ordeal prompted her to move to Georgia to live with family.
