Alone in her small house in Clyde, North Carolina, 82-year-old widow Joan Rivet prepared for bed as she had countless times before. A misstep in the bathroom turned that ordinary night into a harrowing test of endurance that would last more than a week.

Rivet tripped and fell backward into her bathtub, the force of the fall yanking the shower curtain and rod down on top of her. Pain shot through her back, leaving her unable to sit up or swing her legs over the side of the tub. Every attempt to move sent waves of agony through her spine. She was trapped.

Her only companion, a cat named Phoebe, paced anxiously on the other side of the closed bathroom door. Rivet called out for help until her voice weakened, but no one came. Living alone since her husband’s death, she had no daily visitors and no one nearby who would immediately notice her silence.

As hours blurred into days, Rivet drifted in and out of consciousness. With no food and no way to reach a phone, she realized that water would be the key to staying alive. Inch by inch, she stretched her leg toward the faucet, finally managing to hook the handle with her foot. By nudging it carefully, she coaxed a thin stream of water over her toes, then splashed it toward her face, catching what she could with her lips.

She watched the light change through the small bathroom window, day fading into night and back again. She prayed constantly, asking for relief from the pain and the strength to hold on. At times she wondered if anyone would ever find her.

Hundreds of miles away, her brother, Bill Lesko, grew increasingly alarmed when his calls went unanswered. After neighbors reported that Rivet’s car had not moved and no one had seen her, he requested a welfare check from local authorities.

Deputies forced their way into the home and found Rivet semi-conscious in the tub, dehydrated, malnourished, and covered in pressure sores. Phoebe, astonishingly, had also survived the nine days without food or water.

After emergency treatment and transfer to a rehabilitation center, Rivet began the slow process of regaining her strength. She now plans to move to Georgia to live with her brother, determined that she will never face such an ordeal alone again.