Chinatown death triggers worries about isolated seniors

A tragedy happened in San Francisco’s Chinatown in mid-April. Yee-Shui Mar, 91, fell from a window in her apartment building.

The Chinese-language newspaper Sing Tao Daily reported that Mar, who was from Taishan City in Guangdong province, lived alone. She had a married daughter and grandchildren living elsewhere.

Mar's neighbors told Sing Tao that she seemed healthy and often went out by herself without her home care assistant. A parking-lot security guard who witnessed Mar's fall said he assumed she accidentally fell when she tried to hang up clothes from her window.

And a San Francisco medical examiner said they are still investigating Mar's case to determine what happened.

Mar's death deepens the fears of many Chinatown elders. Most low-income seniors living there alone worry that they are in unsafe living conditions. Some are concerned that living alone puts them in a dangerous situation.  

Read the complete story at New America Media.