Woman Rescued Days After Breaking Hip During Fall

Lt. Joseph Jung of the Clarendon Hills Fire Department was honored by the Clarendon Hills Village Board Monday night for actions he took in April to save an elderly woman who had been laying in her basement for nearly two days after falling down the stairs and breaking her hip.

The following was taken from a memo sent to trustees by fire department Chief Brian Leahy describing the incident:

On Saturday, April 14, 2013, Fire Department Lt. Joseph Jung was working at his regular job as a handy man in the village. 

He had an appointment on Saturday morning with one of his customers in the 200 block of Holmes Avenue. When he went to the house to perform the requested work that morning, no one answered the door and it seemed to him that no one was home. 

He returned to the house at about noon that day and again rang the doorbell and knocked on the door and received no response. Upon further investigation, he found the Friday and Saturday newspapers outside and also found that the screen doors were locked from the inside. With this information, Lt. Jung believed that something was wrong with the elderly resident and gained entry to the house.

Upon entering the house he found the resident on the basement floor, unable to move. In speaking with her he determined that she was in extreme distress after falling down the stairs and fracturing her hip Thursday evening around 6 p.m. Lt. Jung stabilized the patient while comforting her and also called for an ambulance with the the paramedics to respond. 

The paramedics arrived and continued the care of the patient, treated her injuries and transported her to a local hospital for treatment.

Thanks to Lt. Jung knowing his customers' habits [and] sensing that there was a problem, he decided to take action and coming to the resident's aid probably saved her life because she was extremely dehydrated and in severe pain for almost three days, lying on the basement floor with a severe injury. 

Lt. Jung showed his dedication, skill and calmness during this life-threatening situation and because of this the patient is fine and back at home now. 

On behalf of the citizens of the village of Clarendon Hills, I would like to thank Lt. Jung for his actions that most likely saved a life.

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