Kan. Woman Recovering From Toilet Ordeal

[March 27, 2008]  WICHITA, Kan. (AP) -- A woman who may have spent nearly two years in a bathroom, sitting on the toilet so long that the seat adhered to sores on her body, remains hospitalized and in pain from medical procedures, family members said Wednesday.

Pam Babcock, 35, was found stuck to the toilet in late February after her boyfriend, Kory McFarren, 37, called authorities to say something was wrong with her. Police believe she sat on the toilet for about a month.

McFarren was charged last week with a misdemeanor count of mistreatment of a dependent adult.

Pat Bollinger, the woman's aunt, said she calls daily to the hospital to ask how Babcock is doing and asks every day to talk to her. Babcock has agreed to talk to her only once for about 10 minutes, she said.

During that one call, Babcock spoke little and mostly listened as Bollinger recounted happy family memories -- time spent swimming, camping and boating -- from the year Babcock lived with them in Arizona when she was in fifth grade.

Babcock has not spoken about her bathroom ordeal, said Bollinger, the family spokeswoman.

"I didn't bring up anything," Bollinger said. "I just let her know how much I loved her and cared for her."

Babcock's relatives said that no family members have been allowed to see her at the hospital, that they know little of her medical condition and that she spends much of her time sleeping at the hospital's intensive care unit.

"Her wounds are still serious. ... She is not out of the woods by any means. She is a very sick girl," Bollinger said.

Via Christi hospital officials refused Wednesday to give an update on the woman's condition.

McFarren told authorities that Babcock feared leaving the bathroom and may not have left it in two years, although he said he was unsure how long she was in there. He said that he took her food and water daily.

He said that he repeatedly asked her to come out but that she usually replied "maybe tomorrow."

"The only thing I am guilty of is I didn't get her help sooner," McFarren told The Associated Press this month. He could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

[Associated Press; By ROXANA HEGEMAN]

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.