“We both believe in guardian angels,” her brother said after the incident

Strengthened by faith, Joan Rivet, 82, survived a fall into her bathtub that left her stranded and fighting for her life for a grueling nine days before help finally arrived.

“I was unconscious and barely had a pulse when the rescuers arrived,” Rivet tells PEOPLE from her room at the rehabilitation center where she is now slowly recovering. “I don’t remember being rescued by them at all, to be honest with you.”

The Clyde, N.C., widow lived alone in a single-family home her late husband built, and her neighbors were too far to hear her calls for help. Her only companion as she struggled to hang on was her cat Phoebe, who mewed constantly behind the other side of the closed bathroom door, unable to reach Rivet.

Rivet says she was getting ready to go to bed on the evening of June 1. While she usually puts her pajamas on in her bedroom, that night she decided to put them on in the bathroom. Not a good plan, she jokes: “Clumsy me, I tripped over my own two feet.”

She stumbled, toppling backward into the tub. As she fell, she grabbed the plastic and outer  shower curtains and rod, becoming tangled up as she fell on her back in the tub. It wasn’t the first night, she says, but in the next day or two when she was able to get out from under the curtains and attempt to use the rod to help lift herself up.

“I was trying from day to day to figure out how to get out of the tub, but nothing worked,” she says. “It started getting chilly, so I was able to use the rod to get my terry robe, which gave me some warmth.”

“I was praying ‘What can I do next, Lord?’ and when I had the strength and energy I’d cry help, help, help. And my little kitty kept crying, too,” Rivet says.

Although the tub faucet was just a few feet from her, she couldn’t bend to get water. However, she eventually figured out how to use her toes to turn on the spigot, getting water to her hand and sustaining her for days.

Joan has lived alone since her husband, Clarence “Dez” Rivet, died in September 2023 at age 91. The two, who had no children, had been married for 35 years. Both she and her husband had been active members of New Covenant Church in Clyde, and she continued to be active in the church after his death.

“We both believe there are guardian angels,” Joan’s brother, Bill Lesko, 79, tells PEOPLE. “I’m sure God spared her life for she could be a testament and encouragement for others.”

Her only sibling says his sister “has three support systems”: Good neighbors on either side of her, including one with a key to her house; a close church community where she is extremely active and until recently was involved in the jail ministry to the Women’s Detention Center; and weekly calls he makes to check on his sister.

“My sister was pretty healthy, drove into town for shopping and doctor visits, attends church almost every Sunday, but on that one Sunday when she didn’t show up, no one followed up,” Lesko says. “We’re now alerted to be more vigilant with single people living by themselves.”

Lesko says he wasn’t overly concerned at first when Joan didn’t answer his weekly call, but then after two or three times with no response, he asked the neighbors to check in with her.

The neighbors saw her car in the driveway but couldn’t get her to answer the door. They “were reluctant to go in,” he says, so Lesko called the Haywood Sheriff’s Department to check on her. It was something he had done once before when he couldn’t contact her, but in that instance she was fine. That wasn’t the case this time.

Joan was brought to Haywood Regional Medical Center just barely alive. “I think several more hours or another day, she would have died,” Lesko says.

After a few days, she was transferred to Skyland Terrace Rehabilitation Center in Waynesville, N.C. She says she gets physical therapy four days a week and has gone from a liquid diet to solid food. She’s now working on her stamina and moving around again.

“It’s difficult, but they’re trying to get me ready to live with my brother,” says Joan, who has decided to move to a house owned by her niece, which is located next door to her brother and his family in Georgia. “It’s time for me to be with family. It’s just a matter of timing and God’s blessing.”

The ordeal also took a toll on her elderly cat Phoebe, who is about 14. She was not in good shape when rescuers arrived, and finding someone who could care for the cat proved impossible.

Joan planned to make the difficult decision to have her humanely put down, but when the weakened cat was taken to the Junaluska Animal Hospital, a person offered to take care of her.

“She said, I can’t put this kitty down. I’ll take her home with me,” Joan says. “So she’s got a home, and that makes me happy.”

Joan says she is now eager to be with her brother and family in the country. She says it’s hard being alone as you get older.

“Be aware of those who are living alone and check in on them frequently. You never know when an accident might happen, and it’s always nice to know people are thinking of you,” she says. “It’s wonderful to have people say how are you doing? Let’s sit on the porch and have a little conversation. Just let them know they are being thought of and they are not alone.”

Source: https://people.com/widow-82-survives-9-days-trapped-in-bathtub-after-fall-12018626