In Our Midst

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BBC Radio Wales - In Our Midst

How can someone die alone at home and no-one notice? Journalist Selma Chalabi finds out.

How can someone die alone at home and no-one notice? It happened to a neighbour of journalist Selma Chalabi. She delves in to the story of Thelma on a Cardiff street left in shock.

In August 2021, a woman in her 70s n was found dead in a cul-de-sac street full of tightly packed terraced houses in Grangetown in Cardiff. Her name was Thelma. Her dog was also found dead. The alarm was raised by her neighbours who started to notice a smell seeping through Thelma’s front door and flies at the window. Talk on the street has it that she died because there was no-one there to look after her. Her death certificate cites pneumonia as the cause of death. The incident left the residents reeling. Thelma and her dog had been dead behind closed doors for some time before anyone noticed. 

The street in question is a typical street in this part of South Cardiff. It has about 50 Victorian houses on each side of the street - houses that were thrown up for dock workers in Cardiff's hey day as a port. There's a mix of people. Some elderly people have lived on the street all their life. Others have come in - Asian families, families from England, Welsh speaking families, families in council houses, and young professional house shares. Whilst people don't live in each other's pockets, and the long timers talk about a time when there used to be much more community spirit, it is a street where people are familiar with each other. People talk to each other and some of the residents know each other by first name.  

One such woman was Thelma. Thelma was a fixture on the street - one of the old timers. She was determinedly independent, always walking to wherever she needed to go. The vision of her walking down the street pulling a trolley along, shuffling along on her swollen ankles, was a daily one. She would refuse offers of help to get her shopping for her, and could be found walking all the way to the super store to get groceries for herself.   

From the outside looking in, Thelma cut a somewhat tragic figure. Her house was clearly in need of attention, and she experienced a great loss in her life a few years ago. Her only son was murdered in 2016 as he left the clothing store Matalan in Cardiff after working the night shift. But her determination to remain independent and run her life in her way was evident.   

When the forensics team were seen entering Thelma's house, and it became clear that no-one had noticed that Thelma had been missing, the residents started questioning society and themselves. Where were they when Thelma most needed their help?

Journalist and radio producer Selma Chalabi lives on the street that Thelma lived on. She herself was left in a state of shock after hearing the news about the circumstances of Thelma’s death. In this programme she’ll talk to fellow neighbours on the street, and try to shed light on how this could happen ‘in our midst’?

Presenter and producer: Selma Chalabi
An Overcoat Media production

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