U.K.: Sad Death of Old Man Who Said No to Help

ESSEX, England, (Herts & Essex News), March 31, 2006: A reclusive pensioner who lay dead in his Cheshunt home for over seven weeks before being discovered, may have been saved if he had reached out for help from local community services - it emerged this week. Ron Salmon, 75, whose badly decomposing corpse was found by horrified Broxbourne Council workers at his flat in quiet Laburnum Close, had a pull cord community alarm at his home, which he could press in case of an emergency. But Broxbourne Council said that Mr Salmon, who had no friends or relatives in the area, opted NOT to receive regular home visits from community support wardens who would have checked on his welfare. "The council can confirm that the elderly gentleman found deceased at his home had a 'hard wired' community alarm system," said the spokesman. "This was paid for by Broxbourne Housing Association, with whom he was a tenant, and consisted of a static pull cord, which if triggered dials a pre-programmed emergency number. "There are no batteries involved in this fixed type of system and it is checked twice a year. "Mr Salmon did not want the full support service which would have seen him getting home visits." But according to the national charity Age Concern, Mr Salmon's lonely death due to natural causes is sadly not uncommon. The charity estimates there could be as many as 1.7 million single older men living in isolation in the UK today (Friday, 31 March) and nearly 400,000 of these are aged 75 and over. Statistics show that elderly men's lack of social skills, links and contact makes them even more vulnerable to isolation than women. Gordon Lishman, Age Concern's director general, warned: "Older men are fast becoming the forgotten members of our society. "They often experience terrible loneliness in old age, but are afraid to speak out as pride gets in the way. "Bereavement, illness and disability all add to older men becoming socially isolated." Mr Salmon's interment, arranged by Broxbourne Council, was held at Parndon Wood Crematorium in Harlow. There was no funeral service.