This is one of the reasons why we should all keep an eye out for our neighbors or the elderly individuals who live alone down the street who we haven’t seen in a long time. Doreen Mann, an 87-year-old grandmother from Essex, was saved by a waitress from the next-door cave. When Doreen moved out on her own, she became a regular at Tomassi’s in Southend!

She usually comes in on weekends to get a slice of her favorite cake. Sonia Congrave has been a waitress at Tomassi’s for more than 15 years. She always notices Doreen whenever she visits during the weekend. When the time came when Sonia hadn’t seen Doreen for some days, she thought maybe a cousin of hers was in town, but when the old lady didn’t show up for her Saturday routine, the waitress figured she had to call for help.

It turns out when Doreen went into her bathtub at 9:30 AM on October 7, she suddenly felt she couldn’t move her legs. She tried to shift and stand up but her legs were just not responding. Doreen lived alone. After her husband was moved into a care home, she had since been tending to herself for years. To survive, Doreen filled her tub with warm water or covered herself with her towel. For four days,

she had to rely on tap water to keep hydrated. When the rescuers found her, her knees were bruised from attempts of getting up. Doreen told The Sun, “I do not know what I would do without Sonia and the rest of them because it is my second home, they are my second family.”