Brooklyn Woman Dies From Lack of Care Inside of Collapsed Home.
Denise Floyd died in her home this Sunday from what could have possibly been a preventable illness. Floyd, 58, who is disabled and wheelchair bound, lived in a three-story brownstone with her adult son, Jesse Rogerson, 36. Rogerson told the press about his mother's condition saying “She was coherent, but she was getting sicker and weaker by the minute. I couldn’t get my mother out because we were pretty much stuck in. You literally had to crawl on the floor just to get outside.”
The reason for that? The top two stories of their home had collapsed onto the main floor making it nearly impossible to leave the house! The collapse happened months ago but the mother and son continued to live in the structure because they didn't have any other foreseeable option. Floyd's condition continued to decline and around 3:35am Sunday morning, Rogerson finally called 911 for help. He feared his mother may have been having a heart attack.
“They had to drag her on the floor just to get her out,” said Rogerson, the only tenant of the decrepit building besides his mom.
By the time responders rushed Floyd to Woodhull Hospital, it was too late.
Rogerson laid the blame at the feet of the hellhole’s landlord, Elsa Steglich, saying that she’d ignored serious structural problems for years until what started as a roof leak escalated to a pancake collapse.
“We were trying to get out of here. We were trying to find a place to go,” said Rogerson. “Every time it rained, it would just keep leaking and leaking. From the third [floor] to the second to the first.”
“Now the sheetrock gets rotten, the wood gets rotten and everything just came down.”
The building’s interior will have to be fully demolished, said a city Department of Buildings spokesman.
A phone call to a number publicly listed for Steglich went unanswered Sunday, and she ignored a reporter’s questions at the scene.
Floyd was “a good person who loved everyone and befriended everyone,” said Rogerson. “She didn’t deserve this.”
We're at a loss for words.
This is definitely a tragedy but we're wondering why the son didn't seek help for his ailing mother when the house first collapsed. He obviously was able to get in and out to bring in food and supplies, since this happened months ago, why didn't he seek help for his mother. Of course we don't know what their financial situation was like but there are agencies that help disabled citizens with almost all of their needs.
How do you think this situation could have been avoided?
