Confined from a brutal fall, woman’s spirits lifted with Silver Bells gifts

Vivian’s overall health is permanently disabled from lasting injuries after crashing down a flight of stairs several years ago. She leans on weekly in-home assistance from a devoted Meritan aid named Betty who also helped Vivian’s mother for many years.

Vivian’s overall health is permanently disabled from lasting injuries after crashing down a flight of stairs several years ago. She leans on weekly in-home assistance from a devoted Meritan aid named Betty who also helped Vivian’s mother for many years.

Inside Vivian’s Frayser home, the 64-year-old, once a longtime nurse at the Memphis VA Hospital, manages to move sparingly after the fall resulted in a broken neck and cracked bones in her back.

She previously received a useful vacuum cleaner as a Silver Bells gift, and another year an electric blanket, which warms her in her bedroom in a house with thin insulation, she said.

For this season’s Silver Bells wish, Vivian has asked for an ionic foot bath that helps promote detoxification. “I take so many medicines, it will hopefully help clean out my liver and kidneys,” she said.

Opening the Silver Bells gifts are “emotional” to receive and are “absolutely wonderful!” she exclaimed. “Meritan means so much to me, and without it its help, I don’t know what would happen to me.”