Elderly man freezes to death in home

[DaemonSeid]

BAY CITY, Mich. - A 93-year-old man froze to death inside his home just days after the municipal power company restricted his use of electricity because of unpaid bills, officials said.

Marvin E. Schur died "a slow, painful death," said Kanu Virani, Oakland County's deputy chief medical examiner, who performed the autopsy.

Neighbors discovered Schur's body on Jan. 17. They said the indoor temperature was below 32 degrees at the time, The Bay City Times reported Monday.

"Hypothermia shuts the whole system down, slowly," Virani said. "It's not easy to die from hypothermia without first realizing your fingers and toes feel like they're burning."

Schur owed Bay City Electric Light & Power more than $1,000 in unpaid electric bills, Bay City Manager Robert Belleman told The Associated Press on Monday.

A city utility worker had installed a "limiter" device to restrict the use of electricity at Schur's home on Jan. 13, said Belleman. The device limits power reaching a home and blows out like a fuse if consumption rises past a set level. Power is not restored until the device is reset.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28858971/

[Benzgirl]

There should be more help for the elderly. What a shame this happened.

[Kevin]

There is help but someone has to ask for it.

The alternative is to have some government entity constantly 'checking up' on older folks so that they [the entity] can decide whether or not those seniors are capable of taking care of themselves.

[LadyDread2010]

It's a horrible way to die...slow and painful.

[AGDee]

In the Detroit area, the help is through THAW (The Heat And Warmth fund) that DTE Energy (our electricity provider) sponsors. The problem is, so many people have applied for assistance this year that the fund is practically empty. The big fund raiser for it is the second week in February. DTE has announced that they stopped using those limiters in the Detroit area. They aren't the company that services Bay City. The part of this story that bothers me the most is this:

The limiter was tripped sometime between the time of installation and the discovery of Schur's body, Belleman said. He didn't know if anyone had made personal contact with Schur to explain how the device works.

Apparently you can re-set the device, although, they also said that they shut off that device after 10 days if the bill is not paid.

[UGAalum94]

What's the idea of the limiter? Would it be enough to run your heat?

Any information about where the guy's family was? You might expect a guy in his nineties to have adult children and adult grandchildren. How do you just let grandpa not have heat?

Sure, it's possible he had no one.

ETA: nevermind, it's in the article that he didn't have children: "'I've said this before and some of my colleagues have said this: Neighbors need to keep an eye on neighbors," Belleman said. "When they think there's something wrong, they should contact the appropriate agency or city department."

Schur had no children and his wife had died several years ago."

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

What's the idea of the limiter? Would it be enough to run your heat?

Any information about where the guy's family was? You might expect a guy in his nineties to have adult children and adult grandchildren. How do you just let grandpa not have heat?

Sure, it's possible he had no one.

The limiter is explained in the article.

[SWTXBelle]

It's sad - you would hope he would have family, friends, neighbors, church, SOMEONE who would check in on him. I know some towns have heated shelters - but he probably couldn't drive.

[KSigkid]

Really sad, but I agree with Kevin, in that I don't know what could have been done. If he had any family, I would imagine they should have been checking on him, but who knows if the family is estranged, etc.

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by KSigkid

Really sad, but I agree with Kevin, in that I don't know what could have been done. If he had any family, I would imagine they should have been checking on him, but who knows if the family is estranged, etc.

I went thru it with my grandmom (not the lack of heat...just the lack of empathy)....she had 2 sons who lived right around the corner from her but I came cross town to check in on her...I was the one who found her when she passed...long...loooonnng story.

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

I went thru it with my grandmom (not the lack of heat...just the lack of empathy)....she had 2 sons who lived right around the corner from her but I came cross town to check in on her...I was the one who found her when she passed...long...loooonnng story.

That happens a lot; either the children don't want to deal with the hassle, or the elderly person wants to retain their independence and the children stop getting involved.

I took an elder law course last year (for a variety of personal reasons) taught by an elder law practitioner, and some of the stories we would hear were insane.

[AGDee]

It is supposed to allow enough electricity to run those things but if you use more than it's set for, it shuts down and all power goes out, even those essential things.

ETA (again): They did say that it can be re-set by the home owner, but nobody knew for sure if the man had been shown how to do that.

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by AGDee

It is supposed to allow enough electricity to run those things but if you use more than it's set for, it shuts down and all power goes out, even those essential things.

EEXXXXXXXAAACTLY.....and once it's gone it was easy to see why this poor fellow froze to death

[agzg]

The moral that I'm taking from this story is that I should have kids and treat them well because one day they'll be the thing that keeps me from freezing to death in my house.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by alphagamzetagam

The moral that I'm taking from this story is that I should have kids and treat them well because one day they'll be the thing that keeps me from freezing to death in my house.

True. I can't help but wonder if he had any family and if so, where they were.

There is no way in the world I (or my parents/aunts/uncles) could know that my grandma or grandpa didn't have heat and not do something about it.