An 82-year-old North Carolina widow has shared her story of survival after being trapped in her bathtub for nine days following a severe fall. Joan Rivet managed to keep herself alive by using her foot to manipulate the bath faucet, splashing water toward her face to drink while awaiting rescue.
The incident occurred on June 1 at Rivet’s home in Clyde, a mountain town situated in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. While preparing for bed, Rivet tripped in her bathroom and fell backward into the tub, pulling down the shower curtain and rod on top of her.The impact left Rivet with debilitating back pain, making it impossible to lift herself out of the porcelain basin.
Living alone since the passing of her husband in 2023, she spent hours calling out for help, with only her cat, Phoebe, listening from the other side of the bathroom door. As the hours stretched into days, she frequently drifted in and out of consciousness.
Without any immediate prospects of rescue, Rivet focused on survival. She realized she could reach the tub’s faucet with her foot. By carefully turning the handle, she trickled water onto her feet and managed to splash enough toward her face to stay hydrated over the nine-day ordeal
“I’d see it get dark and lighter, dark and lighter. I lost track, to be honest, of the days,” Rivet recalled from her bed at Skyland Terrace Rehabilitation Center. “There were times I was crying out and I said, ‘Lord, help, help, help release the pain.’
I spent a lot of time praying… and thanking the Lord that I was still alive.”
The breakthrough came when her brother, Bill Lesko, who lives five hours away in Georgia, became concerned after several days of unanswered phone calls. After neighbors confirmed her car was still in the driveway but reported no movement inside the house, Lesko contacted the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office to request a welfare check.
Deputies entered the home on June 10, discovering Rivet semi-conscious in the tub. Emergency services rushed her to a local hospital, where doctors treated her for severe dehydration, malnutrition, and pressure sores from the prolonged immobilization.
Miraculously, her cat Phoebe also survived the nine days without food or water. Following her discharge from acute hospital care, Rivet was transferred to a rehabilitation facility in Waynesville to rebuild her strength. She now plans to relocate permanently to Georgia to live with her brother.