Bathroom: A 69-year-old French grandmother became entrapped in her bathroom for 20 days in November 2010 at her suburban Paris home. The bathroom door was jammed shut and she began tapping on pipes at night to alert her neighbours, although they confused the noise with building repairs around the area. But neighbours eventually took notice after the woman’s mail starting to pile up near her front door. Reports said the woman survived off of tap water and old candle wax.
Elevator: Nicholas White worked on the 43rd floor of the McGraw-Hill Building in New York City back in October 1999. One Friday night after a cigarette break, he made his way up the express elevator. But when it became stuck on the 13th floor, White figured he would wait it out (there was no emergency phone). It took security guards 40 hours before they noticed a disheveled White on the elevator’s security camera. Eventually, White was freed and sued the building’s management. Four years later and unemployed, White finally won a small settlement for his ordeal. A timelapse video is online at: youtube.com/watch?v=p_bMhNI_TY8.