A 75-old-year Ohio woman, surrounded by feces and urine and whose skin was molded to a chair, had to be retrieved from her home by paramedics wearing hazmat suits. Barbara Foster was rescued from horrible living conditions after a church volunteer from Our Lady of Lourdes, who had been delivering food to her over the past ten years, called authorities. The volunteer informed authorities that he had not seen the woman anywhere else but in her chair since July 2016. Although the stench of human excrement wafted as far as the sidewalk, residents in the Springfield Township neighborhood said they had no idea Foster lived in such squalor.
The volunteer stated the odor was unfortunately common to the point where he had gotten used to it. He said he called the police because Foster was behaving strangely.
Weighing 550 pounds, Barbara Foster had been sitting in the same place since July 2016. According to reports, Foster was physically weak to the point where bones in her body were breaking as emergency responders tried to carefully carry her out of the house. She is currently recovering at the University of Toledo Medical Center. The home now has an orange sign posted declaring it unfit for habitation by the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department.
A sad way to spend one’s golden years
Sheriff’s investigators believe Foster is a former Toledo Public School educator and is originally from Arizona.
Neighbor Robbie Zolciak says he and his wife have been living next door to Foster for about ten years, adding that he used to wave at her while mowing his lawn but the two never spoke. Zolciak said he hadn’t seen Barbara Foster physically in years and was not aware of her being in poor health. Bill and Honey Malik, who have been living on the block since 1995, stated they had seen Foster only once several years ago, walking down her driveway with the aid of two canes.
Living through hardship
Barbara Foster filed a complaint with the Lucas County Sheriff’s Office in 2006 against a woman she permitted to live with her in exchange for doing chores. Foster alleges the woman threatened to torch her home if Foster did not give her $3,000. According to county auditor records, Foster was behind almost $1,400 in property taxes. She missed her first payment of $687 around the time she became confined to her living room chair.
