(Memphis) “It’s no excuse,” says Shirley Reese.
She lost a close friend Friday night and it happened where they both live, Linden Camilla Senior High Rise.
“When you have an emergency, rescue time is important. All it takes is a matter of minutes to rescue a senior,” says Reese.
She thinks her 80-year-old friend, who lived on the sixth floor, may have been able to survive when he started having breathing difficulties if the highrise elevator had been working so paramedics didn’t have to take the stairs.
“So the paramedics had to come all the way up six floors to come to his room. They still couldn’t assist him getting back out because the elevator was down, so they still had to bring him down six floors of steps,” says Reese.
TESCO Properties manages Linden Camilla Towers.
No one was at the Germantown office Tuesday to answer our questions about the elevator problems, even though they did call us Monday to say a pipe burst damaged the elevators and they switched out parts to get at least one elevator working in each building.
They say repair parts have been ordered.
Reese says residents have heard that before.
“This here excuse management giving us about a part has been ordered, now I know Fed Ex delivers all around the world and it can be delivered overnight. Why do senior citizens have to wait?” asks Reese.
“It’s frightening, particularly for people who are not ambulatory and if there is an emergency, It’s frightening,” says Linden Camilla Towers resident Marcia Barry.
Although TESCO Properties says parts have been ordered to get both elevators in the Linden and the Camilla Towers up and running, they couldn’t tell us how long it will take for the parts to arrive and be installed.