An 87-year-old woman trapped in her bath for four days was saved by a quick-thinking waitress who noticed the pensioner hadn't turned up for her regular slice of cake.
Doreen Mann became stuck while taking a bath, reports The Sun. She bruised her knees attempting to get out and couldn't escape, so kept refilling the tub with hot water to keep warm while drinking from the cold tap.
Waitress Sonia Congrave became concerned after noticing Mann hadn't turned up for her usual slice of cake and cup of tea at Tomassi's cafe in Southend-on-Sea, says the Daily Telegraph.
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She raised the alarm with Essex Police, who sent officers round to the pensioner's house and helped her safely leave the bath.
"I still can't believe it happened and thank God I survived. I do not know how I did it," said Mann.
"I just couldn’t get out of the bath and I was there from Friday morning until Monday morning. At the time I thought, 'I have got to keep calm' - but when I look back, I just do not know how I did it."
Congrave said: "She didn't come in on Saturday, like she always does, but I thought perhaps her cousin was visiting her.
"On the Monday, she didn't come in and the best thing I did was call the police because I was concerned and luckily I had her address so the police went to check if she was OK."
Congrave has now bought the pensioner, who calls the waitress her "biggest friend", a mobile phone to avoid similar problems in the future.
"She is a really strong woman - all she wanted afterwards was her cake and a cup of tea," Congrave said.