An Orillia resident called for help and the mayor answered — literally.
The incumbent, Steve Clarke, was campaigning door-to-door on Tuesday when he approached a townhouse in the Village of Leacock.
Flanked by his wife, Chris Marsh, he walked up to the door, knocked and rang the doorbell when there was no answer. Concluding that no one was home, he told Marsh he was going to leave some literature in the mailbox and then head over next door.
Marsh walked to the sidewalk, where she stood and noted the house number in the campaign log, while Clarke walked over to the neighbouring house.
That’s when they both heard a cry for help.
“As I was walking, I thought I heard the TV,” said Clarke, “but Chris said to me that she had heard someone crying out, ‘Help.’”
So they walked back to the previous house and knocked on the garage door.
There it was again — the cry for help.
Clarke and Marsh walked over to the neighbour’s house and asked if there was anyone in the house next to hers.
She answered it was 90-year-old Eileen Reid.
Back at the other house, Marsh was curious about the voice and what had happened to the resident of the house.
Clarke said as he was speaking to the elderly resident through the garage door, Marsh went up to the front door to check if it was open. It was.
“That's why we were able to make our way to the garage door,” said Clarke.
“The lady inside said she'd fallen down the stairs,” he added. “Somehow, she's managed to drag herself back toward the stairs and she was lying there with just a skinny mat between her and the floor. And she'd been there for up to three hours, maybe.”
Reid had difficulty moving, so they thought it best to leave here where she was. The neighbour went back to get a blanket so they could keep her warm while Clarke made the 911 call.
“Anybody in the same situation would have done the same,” he said, adding he did nothing special and he would have done it for anyone.
Clarke, who was uncomfortable sharing details about the incident lest it be seen as a campaign gimmick, said he wants everyone to know he was only doing his duty as a fellow resident of Orillia and human being.
“I want to make sure this story isn't confused with anything campaign related,” he said. “Safety is extremely important and seniors can be in vulnerable positions, especially the more aged you get.”
After calling emergency services, Clarke said, he also called Reid’s son, David Reid, who was able to come out from Lake St. John, where he lives.
“It was an unfortunate incident,” he said in a phone interview. “I'm just fortunate everything turned out the way it did.”
He explained his mother had been taking out the garbage when she slipped and fell down the stairs and ended up on the garage floor, where she was found by her neighbour, Clarke and Marsh.
She was taken in for surgery Wednesday night at Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital, where doctors put in screws and plates to help her fractured hip heal.
“They figure about five to seven days in the hospital and then they'll give her therapy,” said David Reid. “Everything has turned out well so far. She was in good spirits and has a lot friends coming in (to) visit.”
He said he stopped by the mayor’s office Thursday to thank him and left a message when he found out Clarke wasn’t in his office.
“He called back, so I thanked him,” said David.
Clarke said this does raise a concern for senior safety, but from his understanding, Eileen Reid had an alarm device, but she didn't have it on her at the time she slipped.
“We certainly need to make sure our seniors are secure,” he said. “The further along in life you get, it's likely you've lost a spouse, if you had one.”
But Eileen was lucky that her son was able to come over quickly.
“Not everybody has that support system,” said Clarke, adding, “I'd certainly be happy to talk about (seniors safety) further after the elections.”
