Man Found By Relative After Falling, Spending 2 Days On Floor

OAKLAND (KDKA) – An elderly man too weak to get up, spent days on the floor after he fell and wasn't able to call for help.

That help finally came Monday afternoon from a relative who had to use a knife to break through an outer door.

Now the victim is being checked out at the hospital.

Emergency responders carried Steve Garva out of his Glenwood Avenue home in Hazelwood shortly before 2 p.m.

The 85-year-old spent at least two days face first on the floor, before he was finally able to pull a telephone off a table to call a family member for help.

"He said, 'I'm on the floor, I can't get up,'" said family member Patty Ramsey.

Not knowing if he was hurt, Ramsey rushed over to Garva's home.

"He called me back, not able to get in, front screen is locked," Ramsey said.

She brought a butter knife and used it to pry open the screen door, then used her key to get inside.

"He said he's sick, he might have the flu, he has heart problems," she said.

Garva told Ramsey his entire body ached. She called 911 to take him to the hospital.

"That's why you should always have -- somebody should have a set of your keys, always," Ramsey said.

Garva lives on his own in what emergency responders describe as a dangerously cluttered house. Ramsey is hoping this story will remind others to check on their elderly family members and neighbors, even if they are insistent that they don't need help.

"It only takes one fall and you're done," Ramsey said.

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