Woman found suffering from broken hip, severe bed sores following welfare check at Charleston home

CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – An elderly woman is in the intensive care unit after she was found with severe bed sores and a broken hip following a welfare check.

Deputies from the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office were sent to the home of 68-year-old Salvador Gonzalez Rivera on August 20 and located the man’s mother lying in a bed in her own urine and feces.

The deputies believe the woman had been in the condition for a long time and appeared to be malnourished.

She was taken to an area hospital for immediate care. According to an affidavit, a doctor found that the woman was suffering from a broken hip, which may have been that way “for some time” untreated.

The doctor told authorities that the elderly woman was extremely dehydrated, emaciated, and had bed sores on both legs that were infested with maggots eating her flesh, the documents stated.

Rivera told deputies that a medical care professional had not been at the home in about eight months and that his mother had been lying in the bed for roughly four weeks.

The sheriff’s office said Rivera acknowledged that the living conditions were deplorable but claimed he did not ask for help because his mother did not want it.

Rivera was charged with one count of exploitation of a vulnerable adult and given a $100,000 bond.