Grandmother With Alzheimer's Descends 10 Stories Down A High-Rise Building With Her Bare Hands

May 15, 2019 by apost team

Caring for a loved one who has dementia is not easy. One family in China locked their 80-year old grandmother in her home during the day to keep her from wandering off. They didn't expect her to climb out of a 14th-floor window, but that's exactly what happened.

The South China Post reported on the entire incident. The unidentified woman, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease, has lost her memory and reasoning skills, but that wasn't about to stop her from visiting her local market. Apparently, grandma got tired of being cooped up in her apartment and took matters into her own hands.

She grabbed her red handbag and crawled out of the bathroom window, and then climbed down the side of the building. The daring woman used the metal bars from a ventilation shaft as a ladder.

Passersby caught this amazing feat on video.

apost.com

Firefighters received a call about a senior woman scaling a building like Spiderman. They thought it was a prank until more calls started to roll in. They realized a woman was trying to climb down a high-rise apartment building, and they knew they had to act fast.

When the firefighters arrived on the scene, they inflated a giant mattress to break the acrobatic grandmother's fall. Fortunately, the inflatable mattress wasn't needed. A family living on the fourth floor opened their window and pulled the woman to safety.

The woman climbed down ten stories before being ushered to safety. That's more than 100 feet! While we know she is safe and alive, it wasn't clear if the grandmother was injured during her ordeal.

Maybe her family should consider using an adult daycare instead of locking her in an apartment? According to CBS News, risky behavior, shoplifting and undressing at inappropriate times are all common in Alzheimer's patients.

Alzheimers.net is a great resource for anyone who has a loved one with Alzheimer's disease. We'd love to hear from you in the comments. Do you have any advice for the families of dementia patients? Tag your friends to invite them to the conversation.