This story is everywhere because everybody thinks it’s the weirdest thing to be stuck for two years on a toilet. I don’t think there’s anybody out there who can tell me they’ve never been stuck for a long period of time before. Seriously, if you think about it this way, it’s not so strange. I’ve been stuck in crappy relationships for two years and more before. Or I’ve been counterproductive to myself for longer than two years. Like the guy says, “after a while, you kinda get used to it”. Now, of course it’s going to take years for this lady to get her skin back but hell that’s how long it took me to get my backbone and break out of whatever horrible situation I was in. At least she gets some news coverage and a new toilet. She might want to look into a new man and family members but hey, who out there is immune from taking loved one inventory every once in a while?
Boyfriend: Phobia caused woman’s 2-year bathroom stay
Story Highlights
“After a while, you kind of get used to it,” boyfriend says
Police say woman lived in bathroom for two years, didn’t want to leave
Her skin had grown around seat of toilet, police say; it went with her to hospital
Boyfriend says he brought her food, water, clothes in bathroom
WICHITA, Kansas (AP) — A 35-year-old woman who sat on her boyfriend’s toilet for so long that her body was stuck to the seat had a phobia about leaving the bathroom, the boyfriend said.
“She is an adult; she made her own decision,” said her boyfriend, Kory McFarren. “I should have gotten help for her sooner; I admit that. But after a while, you kind of get used to it.”
The case drew nationwide attention after Ness County Sheriff Bryan Whipple said it appeared the Ness City woman’s skin had grown around the seat in the two years she apparently was in the bathroom.
“We pried the toilet seat off with a pry bar and the seat went with her to the hospital,” Whipple said. “The hospital removed it.”
McFarren, 36, said he can’t be certain how long Pam Babcock stayed in the bathroom because “time just went by so quick I can’t pinpoint how long.” He said beatings she received in her childhood caused her phobia.
“It just kind of happened one day; she went in and had been in there a little while, the next time it was a little longer. Then she got it in her head she was going to stay — like it was a safe place for her,” McFarren said.
But McFarren said she moved around in the bathroom during that time, bathed and changed into the clothes he brought her. He brought food and water to her. They had conversations and had an otherwise normal relationship — except it all happened in the bathroom.
McFarren said he finally called police February 27 after he became worried because Babcock was acting groggy — like she didn’t know what was going on, except she was awake.
What emergency responders found when they went into bathroom has left residents of this small western Kansas town buzzing, and law enforcement officials incredulous.
Police found the clothed woman sitting on the toilet, her sweat pants down to mid-thigh. She was “somewhat disoriented,” and her legs looked like they had atrophied, Whipple said.
“She was not glued. She was not tied. She was just physically stuck by her body,” Whipple said. “It is hard to imagine. … I still have a hard time imagining it myself.”
She initially refused emergency medical services, but was finally convinced by responders and her boyfriend that she needed to be checked out at a hospital.
“She said that she didn’t need any help, that she was OK and did not want to leave,” he said.
Whipple said the county attorney will determine whether any charges should be filed against McFarren.
McFarren, who works at an antique store, said he has been taking care of Babcock for the 16 years they have lived together. He insisted that he tried to coax her out of the bathroom every day.
“And her reply would be, `Maybe tomorrow,”‘ Whipple said. “According to him, she did not want to leave the bathroom.”
She was reported in fair condition Wednesday at a hospital in Wichita, about 150 miles southeast of Ness City. Whipple said she has refused to cooperate with medical providers or law enforcement investigators.
Babcock has an infection in her legs that has damaged her nerves, and there is a possibility she may wind up in a wheelchair, McFarren said.
James Ellis, a neighbor, said he had known the woman since she was a child, but that he had not seen her for at least six years.
“I don’t think anybody can make any sense out of it,” Ellis said.
Babcock had a tough childhood after her mother died at a young age and apparently was usually kept inside the house as she grew up, he said.
“It really doesn’t surprise me,” Ellis said. “What surprises me is somebody wasn’t called in a bit earlier.”
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Holy crap.
Well, someone had to say it.
Comment by Jenn — May 21, 2008 @ 5:34 pm