Detroit Woman Shares Story of her Aunt’s Hoarding [VIDEO]

It's definitely a hard video to watch and disturbing to read, but it's eye-opening.

Linda Kajma had been worried about her mom's cousin, Sally Honeycheck, for a while. The 80-year-old had lived in the same house near the Polish Yacht Club in Detroit for decades; she had previously lived there with her late sister, Lorraine.

When Linda didn't receive her yearly Thanksgiving phone call from Sally, she became worried. Sally had always been very put-together; dressed well, make-up, hair, and was known to tip well and donate money to her church. She called the police for a wellness check; when Sally didn't answer the door, Linda decided to break in herself.

She found the house to be in complete disarray; mold on the walls, cobwebs, garbage a foot deep, rats, rat droppings, no heat or air conditioning inside. She found her aunt's dog, dead in another room. And then, she found her aunt - she was slumped over in a chair, bones sticking out, no eyes, nose or mouth. She had walked past it, thinking it was a Halloween decoration.

Now, Linda is going public with the story to highlight the importance of checking on elderly neighbors and relatives, and also to bring attention to hoarding disorder. It doesn't mean that somebody is messy; it means that they have a psychiatric disorder.

Applause is in order for Linda - most people would be too ashamed to share this kind of story about a family member but sometimes, we need to be shocked to be aware, and that's exactly what this story is doing.