heck I couldnt think of what to title the thread.
Maybe some of you have seen the news story about the 93 year old WWII vet that froze to death in his house because his power was shut off..
WWII Veteran Freezes To Death In Own Home - News Story - WNEM Saginaw
Quote:
BAY CITY, Mich. -- Officials in central Michigan say a 93-year-old man who owed more than $1,000 in unpaid electric bills froze to death inside his home -- where the municipal power company had restricted his use of electricity.
Neighbors and friends of Marvin Schur want answers as to how this could happen.
“Now that we do know it was hypothermia, there’s a whole bunch of feelings that I’ve got going through me,” said Jim Herndon, a neighbor of Schur’s. “There’s anger, for the city and the electrical company.”
Bay City officials said changes are on the way in an attempt to not let another instance like this happen again.
An autopsy determined Schur, 93, died from hypothermia in the home he lived in for years.
Bay City Electric Light and Power sent Schur a shutoff notice through the mail a few weeks ago.
Then crews placed a shutoff notice on his front door. A few days later, Schur was found by neighbors.
Bay City Electric Light and Power, which is owned by the city, said a limiter was placed on Schur’s electrical line.
The device limits the power that reaches a home, and it blows out like a fuse if power consumption rises past a set level.
The manager of Bay City said the limiter was tripped sometime between the time of installation and the discovery of the man's body.
The city manager said city workers keep the limiter on a house for 10 days, then shut off power entirely if the homeowner hasn't paid utility bills or arranged to do so.
A medical examiner who conducted the autopsy on Schur told TV5 and WNEM.com that Schur died a painful death due to the hypothermia.
Dr. Kanu Varani has done hundreds of autopsies, and he said he’d never seen a person die of hypothermia indoors.
A neighbor who lives across the street from Schur is angered that the city didn’t personally notify the elderly man about his utility situation.
Schur’s neighbor, Herndon, said Schur had a utility bill on his kitchen table with a large amount of money clipped to it, with the intention of paying that bill.
Right now the city said the situation is still under investigation. Marvin Schur was a World War II veteran.
A memorial service for him will take place Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. at the Gephart Funeral Home in Bay City.
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I read the mans obituary, the only family it lists is a nephew in Saginaw and a niece in Florida, his wife was dead and he had no children.
The power company made the statement that the neighbors should have been checking on him. I've read several dif articles on this today and they say that the person that put the limiter on never had contact with the man to show him how to use it. The articles also states the man had the money attached to the bill sitting in the house but no way to go pay it.
Its a tragedy all the way around IMO, and Im so thankful that we have an arrangement with neighbors of my 90 year old grandmother who lives alone in another state, where they check on her at least once a day and have all our contact information should there be an issue.
I guess my question is....do you feel any responsibility for any elderly neighbors you might have? or any of your neighbors, elderly or not? Would you notice if something was amiss? Do you think you should? 3 of my neighbors know Dave can be gone a lot for long stretches of time and they always check on me now (after I fell and cracked my ribs when Dave was in Israel and I couldnt get out to get myself to the doctor).
I feel so sorry for that man, of course I dont know all the circumstances but its really sad he was alone and dying in pain.