Woman, 94, Rescued : Tip By Alert Mail Carrier Saves a Life

Mail carrier Jacqueline Stephen was making her rounds in Fullerton when she noticed mail piling up in the letter box of Mrs. Ethel Fouch, 94, last Saturday.

“Something struck me and I grew concerned,” Stephen said, remembering that Mrs. Fouch was a methodical woman who collected her mail punctually.

Stephen notified Mrs. Fouch’s assistant apartment manager, and also spoke with neighbors who remarked on Mrs. Fouch’s absence for a couple of days. “I always try to be on the lookout for people,” Stephen said.

Stephen then continued on her rounds.

‘White as a Ghost’

“I didn’t hear any more until last Tuesday, when the apartment manager told me, ‘Boy, am I glad you did that!’ ” she said.

The manager found Mrs. Fouch sprawled in her apartment hallway on Saturday, “white as a ghost,” Stephen said. “At first, he said it looked like she had passed on.”

Paramedics called to the scene estimated that Mrs. Fouch lay in the hall for three days after a fall. Pain from a fractured hip had probably prevented her from rising, said Mrs. Fouch’s granddaughter, Diane DeMars of Glendale.

She said her grandmother “just disassociated herself from the pain, and that’s how she got along.”

At Martin Luther Hospital Medical Center in Anaheim, Mrs. Fouch underwent surgery for a fractured right hip. On Friday, she was in “quite satisfactory” condition, a hospital spokesman said.

Mrs. Fouch may return home after a 60-day recuperation period in an intermediate-care facility, DeMars said, adding, “She’s a very independent lady.”

A widow for 20 years, Mrs. Fouch has lived in the apartment complex on West Valencia Drive in Fullerton for a quarter-century. She has never driven a car, but has done her own cooking and taken care of herself with the help of a friend from church who visited every two weeks, DeMars said.

DeMars said the “ironic thing” is that her family had a meeting a week before Mrs. Fouch’s fall to discuss concerns about her living alone. “But Ethel was proud she could do her own cooking, and we felt she should stay independent as long as possible.”

The family may now “use this opportunity to bring her closer to us” in Glendale, DeMars said. “But she may want to go back to her apartment. She’s like everyone’s adopted grandmother there, and people look out for her.”

In her hospital room, Ethel Fouch said she was not surprised by Stephen’s good Samaritan act. “She’s always been very nice,” she said. “And this time, it seems it was a lifesaver.”

Stephens, 27, who lives in Placentia and has been a mail carrier for four years, said it’s all in the job description. “We always try to look out for lights left on too long, stacked up newspapers and anything fishy,” she said. “I’m very happy to hear Mrs. Fouch is doing fine.”

Mrs. Fouch added that she is not concerned about her future.

“I’m not disturbed. I’m 94 years old. I’ve come to the end of the road in life and I’m just not worried about it now.”