Woman dead for 3 years with TV on

[2DualsNotEnough]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

...And THEY can't be duped ? Come on, fellas, there's a fair amount of "too good to be true" stuff in this one....Old woman, friendless, apparently no close family, dies at home at Christmas surrounded by her presents...Nobody would call her & see how she liked the sweater set she got ? Her utilities just kept going on, even when nobody paid 'em? I'd like to try that w/my power board... I'm not saying it couldn't happen, it just seems a little, erm, "funny" to me...Let's just say I'm kinda skeptical. But if it is true, how awful ! Lets hope she went quickly, & didn't have to suffer...Imagine having a heart attack or a stroke, & being perfectly aware, but unable to do anything... Sounds like an Alfred Hitchcock story...no, wait..it WAS...

I agree it sounds far fetched,but think about it:she's only 40 when she dies,and the report mentions she has sisters,but they dont even show up until the autopsy.Maybe she came from a really dysfunctional family,which might account for her being in an abusive relationship to begin with.
Shes in England,and the refuge she lived in was probably government run,and they probably subsidized it,except for a nominal rent,which might have covered her utilities,etc.
I cant even imagine how backed up the beauracricy might be in a situation like that.Even in the states,the govt is always short staffed and behind in record keeping,but in a more socialized country like England,I bet the backlog of cases is mindboggling.
And for me,the saddest part of this story is the presents around her.I keep imagining this lonely woman buying presents for herself,and wrapping them all up,then keeping them around long after the holiday,just to comfort herself.How many people start buying Xmas gifts in the summertime,under the pretense of getting ahead,when you know at least part of it is trying to get the good feelings you get during the holidays during less pleasant times in your life?I know a lot of women who center their whole lives around those few weeks a year,making Xmas crafts,and homemade gifts all year round.
I guess this story just really affected me.I stayed up this morning,just so I could spend a little time with my wife,since our schedules dont allow us much time together.
Jimmy

[bgadow]

There is a terrible, terrible website-rotten.com-with many stories along these lines. Some gruesome things can happen.

There is an odd chap near here-he lives in a burnt out house, is not that old, has an old pickup he drives around. My wife has been concerned about him given that the house is in such poor shape. We have asked many folks about him, trying to get his story and to see if he wants any help-but we have not gone up and talked to him. I wonder-would anyone miss him if he died? Thinking about it, that was my late grandfather's deepest fear, that he would die alone at home.

[smoker76]

Brian,
That's great that you and others are thoughtful towards that man. It would be great to hear about someone talking to him to find out if he is knda nuts or just really depressed. He may very well not tell if he has givin up on other people as many understandably do. Ithink every community should have a group of women or anybody that goes and visits such people at least once a week just to chat and treat them with respect and dignity to hopefully let them experience being liked and wanted by others. Churches should be doing that but I guess they are too busy doing other things.



I hope your Grandfather is still amoungst us. Your words sound like he is gone. If so, did he have family with him?

[bgadow]

Smoker, thanks for the kind words. My grandfather passed away in '97 while in the hospital. It was sudden, massive heart failure which killed him, something which ran in his family.

A house gets awful quiet & lonely when you live by yourself. Even folks who have frequent visitors can often find themselves feeling all alone. I know of another gentleman, alone in an apartment, who I have tried to visit every so often. Who was always calling me up and talking about how lonely he was. One day I stopped by after one of these calls and I learned I was his third visitor of the day and while I was there some other folks stopped by. But then, he might go for days without seeing anyone else.

[Shinkukan]

Originally Posted by smoker76

All the people in the world and so many are left alone. Sometimes it is good to be alone. Most of the time being alone wastes valuable time in that life is always better when you include others.

Does anyone remember what famous person once said, "For every hour I spend with people I need an hour alone" (or something close to that)? This is closer to my own point of view, but maybe that's because I fancy myself to be a (wannabe) writer, inventor and all around dangerous thinker...

(my yahoo handle is wellturnedfrays (misspelled pun intended)

[smoker76]

I think there should be groups of people to check on those who are abandoned as well as those who choose to be alone.
My first concerns are for those who would appreciate someone trying to help them as many are afraid to ask or just don't know how to ask for help.
As for those who choose to be alone, I think we should respectfully find out if they may be a danger to anyone. Some who stay alone have very good reasons for doing so. Unfortunately, there are loners who do bad things to others. I suspect many crimes could be prevented if we were to reach out to more people who may have problems that they cannot handle by themselves.

[Shinkukan]

Originally Posted by smoker76

I suspect many crimes could be prevented if we were to reach out to more people who may have problems that they cannot handle by themselves.

Agreed. Civilization is a very thin veneer. Don't recall who said that. Or was it me? Nope, pretty sure it was some smarty pants whereas mine are too preoccupied with where double creases come from...

[Negotiableterms]

Here's a little more detail on the story, which is still far from making sense:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4906992.stm

[matt001]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

...And THEY can't be duped ? Come on, fellas, there's a fair amount of "too good to be true" stuff in this one....Old woman, friendless, apparently no close family, dies at home at Christmas surrounded by her presents...Nobody would call her & see how she liked the sweater set she got ? Her utilities just kept going on, even when nobody paid 'em? I'd like to try that w/my power board... I'm not saying it couldn't happen, it just seems a little, erm, "funny" to me...Let's just say I'm kinda skeptical. But if it is true, how awful ! Lets hope she went quickly, & didn't have to suffer...Imagine having a heart attack or a stroke, & being perfectly aware, but unable to do anything... Sounds like an Alfred Hitchcock story...no, wait..it WAS...

Yes it does sound like an urban myth

But if it did happen... Well that sucks

[Lambo]

Google on Joyce Vincent.
There are seemingly legitimate articles at The Telegraph and the BBC about her death.
It seems legit.

[devoid]

So call me a cold heartless bastard, but what kind of TV was it?

[andy]

Back to the original topic of the thread. I think it is completely possible for a modern TV to work 24/7 for 3 years and still be fine. I've seen plenty of TVs running 24/7, or 18/7 in stores that work fine after as much as 5 or 10 years. It's also standard practice for many businesses to leave their computer monitors on 24/7.

[southernguy]

Our local WalMart has tvs hanging up all over the store with wallyworld programing. They have been up and going 24/7 for 5 years now. One of the sets went to a green only screen.

[gyusher]

Originally Posted by devoid

So call me a cold heartless bastard, but what kind of TV was it?

My thoughts exactly. . .

[devoid]

Hey Gyusher, thanks for the laugh, you made my day. Why? Dear old Dad died last night. It shead humor on the death topic.