Call Me Empathetic

(Newspaper article found via email)

Oregon Woman Trapped Under Dresser For Nearly 4 Days

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Authorities say an Oregon woman was trapped for nearly four days after a dresser fell on top of her.  Neighbors asked Washington County sheriff's deputies to check on Cedar Mill resident Virginia Cartier on Friday, after they realized they hadn't seen her in a while.  Deputies forced their way into the 67-year-old's home and found her pinned underneath the dresser. Cartier had been trying to move the dresser.  Deputies say the woman was in and out of consciousness after not having any food or water for days. She had injuries to both legs and was treated at a hospital.  Cartier has since been released and is recovering at the home of a friend.

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(My Personal Version - true story from pregnancy #1 - Christmas 1999)

Utah Woman Trapped Under 10 ft. Christmas Tree For What Seemed Like Hours

Amalga, Ut. ---- Just weeks before Christmas, a very pregnant Utah woman was trapped under her Christmas tree for what she says, "seemed like hours".  Apparently she had started trimming the tree early that evening on the upper floor of her home while her husband was casually watching TV in the basement.  In an attempt to reach the upper limbs of the over sized 10-foot tree, the woman soon found herself flat on the ground underneath the toppled tree.  Being 7 months pregnant she was somewhat disabled in trying to escape her prickly location.  In hopes that her husband would come rescue her she began yelling for him to come to her aid.  Enthralled with his new cell phone that was equipped with a 2-way radio and with a recliner glued to his back, the husband chose to stay in his basement location and responded to his wife's cries via walkie-talkie.  The woman claims she could hear her phone beeping in the kitchen followed by her husband's response of, "If you want to talk to me, come downstairs.  Stop yelling at me!"  The husband was, of course, oblivious to his wife's current condition, and continued to ignore her calls for help other than an occasional response on the cell phone radio.  Heroically the woman finagled her way out from under the Christmas tree and quickly found her way downstairs to confront her husband.  Authorities say that both the man and the woman are lucky to be alive.  Their unborn child was unharmed.