A Burnaby man may lose his foot after being trapped in his home under piles of collected belongings.
Burnaby RCMP officers, along with firefighters and emergency services personnel, went to a home in the 6900-block of Mandy Avenue on Monday evening, after family members called to say they had trouble contacting the homeowner.
When police arrived, they found a home stuffed almost to the ceiling with hoarded items.
They were able to make verbal contact with the man but getting to him was difficult.
Emergency personnel had to use a chainsaw to clear a path and extract the 73-year-old man, known to neighbours as Dave, whose legs were trapped underneath some items. The extraction took three hours.
Police believe the man may have been trapped in the house for several days.
After freeing the man, emergency personnel took him to Burnaby Hospital and, according to Burnaby RCMP Cpl. Dave Reid, the man had lost circulation to his lower extremities for long enough that he may lose his foot.
The man was also suffering from dehydration.
Reid told the Burnaby NOW on Thursday morning that the latest update he had about the man was that he was still recovering in hospital and physicians were still looking into whether his foot would need to be amputated.
Reid said city officials have also been looking into whether the man's house is habitable.
"There was no danger to the public," said Reid. "This is a sad case. . If nobody had found him, the outcome could have been tragic." www.twitter.com/AlfieLau
