Sochi: MfE rescuers save 77-year-old pensioner

In Sochi, a unit of the Ministry for Emergencies (MfE) has saved a 77-year-old woman, who had lain unconscious in her apartment for a few days. There are many cases in the city, when elderly people faint in their closed apartments, but rescuers not always manage to help them, while the city has no residential home for the elderly, where such lonely people could be placed, said a source from the social protection service.

The absence of the above pensioner was by her neighbours and elderly friends, whom she met on a daily basis in Tsvetnoy Boulevard.

Rescuers penetrated into the flat in the first floor through a window leaf and brought the woman out in a stretcher. She barely showed any signs of life; and a loaf of bread was in her hands. She was rendered a medical aid.

"There are many similar cases in the city, when lonely residents lose consciousness and stay in their flats. Sometimes their neighbours report; then, it's possible to save one's life. Unfortunately, Sochi has no residential home for the elderly, where such lonely elderly people could be placed," said Galina Perevertaeva, an employee of the social protection service of Sochi.

"Earlier, she worked as a teacher of music. Her pension is 5000 roubles; half of than she pays for her apartment, the other half – for medicines. I am ashamed to say, but she looks for her food in trashes, looking for bread or some food that people throw out. This is the way our Sochi pensioners live," said Galina Ponomaryova, a friend of the rescued woman.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.