A driver on a meal delivery route may have saved a senior’s life.
Denise Niese, executive director of the Wood County Committee on Aging, said that drivers are trained to
do well checks as they deliver meals to hundreds of seniors daily.
That check likely saved the life of a woman who had apparently turned on a gas burner that had the pilot
light out.
When the driver approached the home with lunch, she noticed that the door, which is usually open, was
locked. When the driver knocked and called out, the female resident sounded disoriented and was unsteady
as she came to the door.
When the driver entered the home, she immediately smelled the gas and went into the kitchen. The burner
was on, without the flame.
The driver turned the stove off, opened windows and called 911, Niese said.
“That’s why daily home meals are so important,” she said. “That means Monday through Friday someone is
knocking at the door, and even during covid, we have to have an audible or a visual with the client.”
