Seniors cope as the only elevator in their apartment complex goes out of service

EASTPOINTE, Mich. (WXYZ) - A broken elevator in the Berry senior citizen apartment in Eastpointe is causing great concern for residents and their families.

85-year-old Alina Magda says she's shaking and has leg and heart problems and needs the elevator because she uses a walker. She says she feels like "a duck in a cage."

The elevator broke on Monday and managers of the HUD Apartment say it could be a few weeks. They say the  elevator piston cracked during a routine weight check. Oil also leaked into the ground, so this became an environmental problem as well.

Still, they say they are trying to get it fixed in two to three weeks instead of four.

They also say they will do grocery runs for the residents which their neighbors are already doing. They will make sure people have transportation available to go to medical appointments and someone to help them downstairs and they plan to ask students from nearby East Detroit High School to come over and do errands for the seniors and maybe do activities with them, like playing Scrabble or cards.

Alina's daughter, Chris, came to the apartment to bring her mom some food, to check on her mom and let her mom, who was very upset know that everything will be okay.

We will follow the story and update it when the elevator is fixed.