An 80-year-old man was conveyed to The Canberra Hospital yesterday afternoon (Wednesday, July 25) after he was found by police on the floor of his unit, where he had lain injured for two days.
Officers from ACT Policing’s City Patrol were called to the unit in Condamine Street, Turner, around 1.15pm yesterday after the elderly man’s son had contacted police out of concern for his father’s welfare.
The son did not have a key to the locked unit so he was unable to gain access.
No response could be raised from inside the unit, and the locksmith called by police was unable to gain entry because the door had been deadbolted from the inside.
As a last resort, police use a door ram to break the door and gain entry. The man was found face down on the floor in the unit’s dining room, weak and semi-conscious. It appeared the man had fallen heavily and was unable to rise. He had not eaten or drank for two days.
Police immediately called ACT Ambulance Service, which conveyed him to hospital.
One of the officers who attended the scene, City Patrol Sergeant Chris Gresser, said the incident served as a timely reminder to people to regularly look out for their elderly neighbours, or for family members to consider a medical alert system for elderly relatives living alone.
“There’s no doubt this welfare check saved a person’s life,” Sergeant Gresser said.
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