VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — UPDATE: 13News Now has learned the elevator was fixed on Thursday afternoon. Below is our original report.
A Norfolk woman says her 80-year-old mother is stuck inside her Virginia Beach apartment because of a broken elevator.
Crissie Crusemire's mother lives on the 4th floor at the Wesleyan Place Apartments Senior Community where the elevator has been broken since December 21st. Because of that outage, she missed their Christmas family gathering.
"There was no way we could get her to that," Crusemire said. "We can't get her down the stairs though, for sure. But even if we could, we definitely couldn't get her back up."
A broken elevator might sound like a small obstacle to some, but for the 55+ community living at the Wesleyan Place Apartments, it’s a massive barrier. Some, like Crusemire’s mother, are unable to walk up and down the stairs.
Crusemire said that along with her three sisters, they've been able to help take their mother what she needs. But not all of the residents have been so lucky.
Crusemire also said this is not the first time the lone elevator has been out of service for the residents.
"They count on that elevator so much to have that freedom," she said.
According to Crusemire, the apartment complex left a note, saying they are waiting for a part to be delivered, which the Envolve Community’s President Jeff Ezekial confirmed in an email to 13News Now, saying they expect the part Friday.
In the meantime, Crusemire said her mother and her neighbors have missed doctor’s appointments, family gatherings and even taking their pets outside to use the bathroom.
"I think that the physical, emotional, and mental implications of them being just stuck in their apartments is really, really taking a toll," she said.
She said her sister saw one older woman attempting to crawl up the stairs. Crusemire said her mother even hit her Life Alert button out of desperation just to see if they could do something to help.
"There’s this panic, which is so understandable because you’re older, you’re depending on everybody for everything and you have control over so little things."
In a statement to 13News Now, Ezekial said, "Please know that we are extremely eager to get the issue resolved as quickly as possible and are truly sorry for the inconvenience this has caused our dedicated residents."
13News Now also asked Ezekial if they made any arrangements to help residents get groceries or take their pets out, but we have not yet gotten an answer to that question. We also asked if the part will be installed as soon as it is delivered even though the offices will be closed for the New Year's holiday and have not gotten a response to that question yet either.
Crusemire said while they’re ready for this problem to be taken care of, they also want to see more preventative maintenance measures in the future.
"When you have an emergency situation and these people are abandoned in their apartments, and they’re really feeling it, I think a little more could have been done and should have been done and we need some preventative things," she said.
Crusemire said having backup parts ready to go or even totally replacing the "unreliable" lone elevator would be a good first step.
"I think just the distress of the residents is the main thing. It was just so hard talking to them. They're angry, they're nervous, they're scared, they definitely feel abandoned," said Crusemire. "We just want things to change. We want some action and hopefully a new elevator or something."