Woman, 75, dies after her arm's trapped in sofa for days
Man, it sure does suck to get old. When you are young, you think it will take something on the level of a fiery plane crash or a case of mistaken identity with a gang of street punks to do you in. Then as you get older and your body starts to wear down you worry that your demise might be hidden in all those fatty foods you have been eating for the past 45 years. Then when you get really old, and you have been lucky enough to have avoided all the fiery plane crashes, the shoot outs with the gang bangers and the clogged arteries, it must be extremely humbling to know that all it might take to do you in is something as seemingly harmless as a fold out sofa.
A 75-year-old Shirley Stocksdale died of dehydration and emotional distress after getting her arm trapped in her sleeper sofa trying to find the remote control. A telephone and whistle were just inches from the woman's reach, says the officer that found her dead, her left arm trapped in the couch.
"She had very little movement because she was trapped up to her shoulder," Acting Medical Examiner Rebecca Hamilton said.
Stocksdale had been trapped for at least two days in her Del Monte Court house before a police officer found her Saturday morning while checking on her.
"Just being in a situation like that could produce cardiac arrhythmia," Hamilton said. "She had no way to get help."
The officer knew something was up when the car was in the garage and the mail had piled up.
The officer went through a side door and found the answering machine was on which later contained messages from concerned friends who had not heard from her. Point of irony: She had just recently decided against moving into an assistant living facility because she didn't want to give up her independence.
