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The man at his house

Elderly man receives help thanks to Facebook post

Facbook status describing neglect of elderly man prompts 16 volunteers to clean his house, help him get medical care; Ramat Gan Municipality says aware of man's deteriorating situation, tried to get him to retirement home, but he refused

An elderly man living in harsh conditions in a Ramat Gan apartment got a second chance after a student told his story on Facebook. The story reached many in the social media, and the man received help by volunteers, as well as medical treatment.

 

The student, Chen Levy, along with his friends Tal Terry and Oded Machani, saw the man last week when they were visiting a friend in the building.

 

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"We were surprised to see the door to one of the apartments open, and at the doorstep an elderly man sitting in his own urine, crying for help," Levy wrote in his Facebook page. "We went into the apartment, facing stench and filth, half-burnt kitchen, ants and bugs everywhere; the man told us he had fallen and had no one to help him." 

 

The Facbook post stirred great commotion, resulting in the enlisting of some 16 volunteers who showed up at the man's apartment and cleaned it. "I was in shock," said Rickey, one of the volunteers after seeing the state the apartment was in. "We brought in social workers and a private physician. People who heard about the story simply showed up."

  

The elderly man was evacuated to the Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva and said that he was feeling better. "I thank all the people who helped me," he said. 

 

Former MK Carmel Shama-Hacohen visited the man at the hospital. "No human heart can stay indifferent to the distress of an 83-year-old man. I spoke to the Social Affairs Ministry and the welfare department at the Ramat Gan Municipality, and I have no doubt that he will get everything he needs soon."  

 

According to the Ramat Gan Municipality, "The welfare department is well aware of the man's case. Recently his condition has suffered deterioration, and the department asked the man and his family to put him in a retirement home, at least for the holiday, but they refused."

 

 

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פרסום ראשון: 03.28.13, 00:47
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