Overview
- Joan Rivet fell into her bathtub in Clyde, North Carolina on June 1 and deputies found her semi-conscious after a family-requested welfare check on June 10.
- Rivet says she used her foot to turn the faucet and drank water that splashed onto her face while drifting in and out of consciousness.
- Officers rushed her to a hospital where staff treated severe dehydration, malnutrition, and bed sores with IV fluids and liquid nutrition before she was moved to a Waynesville rehabilitation center.
- Her brother contacted neighbors and then the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office to request the wellness check that led to her rescue, and Rivet plans to move to Georgia to live with him.
- The episode highlights how falls, out-of-reach phones, and rural isolation increase danger for older Americans and points to practical prevention steps such as reachable emergency-call devices, regular welfare checks, and home fall-risk fixes.