Woman on oxygen tank dies after power cut off due to unpaid bill
A grandmother who relied on a powered oxygen tank to breathe, died hours after her electricity company cut off her service over an overdue bill, despite her family saying their desperate pleas were ignored.
Linda Daniels, 68, who was in hospice care, suffered from congestive heart failure and died on Thursday last week – seven hours after power to her house in New Jersey, US, was reportedly cut.
Her daughter Desiree said energy provider PSEG shut off her mother’s service because she had fallen behind on payments.
Bills issued to Ms Daniels show at May 29 her account was about $2400 in arrears, but the family claims it was attempting to pay off the account, ABC 13 reported.
Her daughters claim $400 was paid in April, with $600 more made about a month later, then $620 more on July 3, which was just two days before Ms Daniels died.
Desiree added that her mother’s medical equipment was also registered with the utility company.
How the first group of boys were rescued from flooded Thai cave
Shannon Noll threatens fan in vile expletive-laden rant on stage
The challenges facing the rescue of the Thai boys trapped in flooded cave
Four saved as rescuers prepare for second phase of Thai cave mission
The family called emergency services, and paramedics reportedly provided a portable oxygen unit as a short-term fix. Ms Daniels died an hour after paramedics left the home, according to KMOV, however it is unclear why they didn’t continue to provide assistance.
Meanwhile the family say they made multiple calls to the power company, begging them to turn the power back on.
“One rep told me to stop calling, that there were too many tickets in the system,” Desiree told ABC 13.
“PSEG said ‘Oh, we’re on our way.’ They kept telling us that, but no one showed up.
“We put one ice pack here by her side and one on the other side. We were fanning her. It was so hot in here, she couldn’t breathe. It was unbearable,” she said.
PSEG claims it attempted to notify the customer several times that their account was behind and the service would be terminated.
“Because there was no response from the customer, the customer was shut off. They had not notified us of any medical circumstances in the home,” it said in a statement.
Power was restored on Friday but it was too late. Ms Daniels had died a day earlier.
Police are investigating and PSEG said it would review its records.
