Honsmick

Not sociable

In December 2003, Joyce Vincent died of an apparent asthma attack in her north London apartment. The television was on. The mail continued to be delivered. Her rent was set up to be automatically deducted from her bank account. Days passed and no one noticed she was gone.

Those days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. There were large trash cans on the side of the building next to her unit, so the neighbors never thought about the smell emanating from her apartment. The floor was full of noisy children and teenagers and no one questioned the constant noise of the television in the background.

Eventually, Joyce's bank account dried up. Her landlord sent her collection letters. These letters, like the others, simply fell into the piles scattered around her floor. They went unanswered. Finally, with more than six months of rent in arrears, the landlord obtained a court order to forcibly remove her from the premises. The bailiffs broke down the door, and only then was her body discovered. At that time, it was January 2006, more than two years after her death.

During this time, no one ever came looking for Joyce Vincent. No family. No friends. No colleagues. No neighbors knocked on the door to see if everything was okay. No one called. No one arrived. She was 38 years old when she died.

This story drops the jaw in its social implications. It seems unfathomable that entire years can pass without anyone noticing that someone has died. Yet, stories like this happen frequently. Chances are you've seen a news story similar to the one about Joyce Vincent. And they are all the same.

The person lives alone. They lose contact with family and friends. They never meet their neighbors. They stay cooped up with their television or computer for years. The world moves on as if they are no longer there until one day they are not.

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