Dialing the wrong number saves 92-year-old’s life
The woman collapsed and broke her spine at 3am
A 92-year-old woman’s life was saved by a patient and kind Norkem Park man after she had dialled his number by accident at 3am on August 28.
The woman, from Somerset West in the Cape, collapsed and broke her spine in two places. She crawled to a phone but mistakenly dialed the number of Jorries Jordaan (58).
“She called me three times and she sounded very confused every time. Initially, I didn’t understand what she was saying, except that she asked me to call her daughter. I told her I did not know who her daughter was and asked her to give me her daughter’s number but she couldn’t.
“At this point, I knew she needed help but it was difficult to help her because she could not tell me her location. As we kept talking, I learned she was at an old age home called Bridgewater Manor. I tried calling the home but there was no answer,” said Jorrie.
He started googling numbers to call but struggled to get hold of the staff. “I eventually called the South African emergency number but those people did not help with anything. After a while, they still did not send an ambulance to help the woman.
Jorrie’s proud son Pieter told EXPRESS: “My father has a friend who stays in the Strand, who has a security company. The friend then sent his supervisor and an ambulance to the elderly home.
“The ambulance took the woman to hospital and after examinations, it was revealed she had broken her back in two places.”
According to Jorrie, it was already 6am when she was finally rushed to a nearby clinic for medical assistance. “I was already at work when her daughter called me to thank me.
“The daughter explained that her mother was trying to call her brother but it turned out the numbers were almost the same as mine. Her mother confused the last four digits.”
Jorrie said he was happy to have helped. “I am giving the family space to process the whole thing before I find out how the woman is doing. I couldn’t even ask the daughter what her mother’s name was because she was still in shock.
“Fortunately, the woman lives near a clinic which was just across the street. I can only imagine the pain she endured and hope she gets better soon.”
