A 68-year-old New Jersey grandmother, who depended on an oxygen tank to breathe, died last week after the utility company turned off her electricity because of an overdue bill, NJ.com reported.
Linda Daniels, who suffered from congestive heart failure, was in hospice care at her Newark home with her family after her electricity-powered oxygen tank and the residence's air-conditioning unit stopped working at 10 a.m. Thursday, NJ.com reported.
Temperatures rose into the 90s that afternoon. When Daniels' tank shut off, her family used a smaller reserve tank. When that was empty they called paramedics, who gave her oxygen through a portable tank, WABC reported.
Daniels died at 4:23 p.m. Thursday, her family said. Power was restored at the home the next day, the television station reported.
"She was trying to catch her breath -- she was gasping for air," her granddaughter, Mia, told NJ.com. "She suffered and she passed right in front of us. She was gasping until the time she died."
Daniels' daughter, Desiree Washington, said family members called PSE&G and pleaded to have the power restored, NJ.com reported.
"She had just paid $500 two days before," Washington said. "And she's a senior. We asked them, 'Why are you turning off her electric at the pole?'"
Mia said at one point the PSE&G operator told her to stop calling.
"They started getting nasty after a while, telling us they had too many tickets out on this," she said.
On May 29 there was a balance of about $1,800 on Daniels' account, but another bill indicates $300 was paid in April and $450 was paid in another month. On July 3, a $500 payment was made, WABC reported.
PSE&G said in a statement Sunday that service to Daniels' home was disconnected "due to lack of payment over several months."
"As part of our policy, PSE&G had notified this customer numerous times that their account was in arrears and that they would be scheduled for a service termination unless the account was made current," said Jim Namiotka, a company spokesman.
Namiotka said the family had not notified the utility company about medical issues until after the service had been disconnected.
"We are reviewing our records to determine what transpired. We encourage customers who have medical issues to contact us so that we can note their circumstances on their accounts," Namiotka said.
Washington, however, said family members and hospice workers in the past had informed the utility company in writing of Daniels' medical issues, NJ.com reported
Newark police are investigating, WABC reported.
Daniel’s funeral will be Wednesday.
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