[music playing] I'm Nora, a retired
medical professional, and I'm a collector. I'm a collector of everything. I collect cuckoo clocks. Owls, I collect owls. Lamps, sleepwear. I'm one for a lot of
Victoria's Secret sleepwear . And I can't even
tell you everything that's under the pile. I just know it's things that
I've collected over the years. You cannot walk through rooms. The stove is piled up to
where I cannot cook on it. The sinks are piled up
to where I can't get even any water out of the sink. I'm Sheila, and
Nora is my sister. The last time I was in Nora's
home was over 13 years ago. She will not allow you
even to visit or stop by. And if you continue to
ask, she becomes very upset and asks, why are you
assuming that I am a hoarder? I'm Verlie, and
I am Nora's sister. There's been days where I
can't get hold of my sister for, like, a day and
a half on the phone. Yes, I'm worried about her. [music playing] About 30 years ago,
her son Kevin was diagnosed with a brain tumor. And he lived about
eight years with it. They stopped life support
5:30 [choking back sobs] in the evening, so. And that's when my life ended. Not a day goes by that
I don't think of Kevin. When Kevin passed away,
that's when the things started accumulating. Every time I would buy
a set of something, I would buy a set for him. It was almost a feeling that
Kevin was going to come back. [music playing] SHEILA: She's so attached to
these items that taking them away is like reliving
Kevin's death. It really is. She's told us she does not
want to get rid of anything. She doesn't have
anything to get rid of. And she will die first
in the home before she parts with them. If Nora's not able to get
rid of any of her things and refuses help, then we have
to call protective services. NORA: I said, you best
not do anything like that. I'm not hoarding anything. I'm collecting things, and
I love my collectibles. And I'm going to
keep collecting them. SHEILA: I'm very concerned that
my sister will die in the home, and no one will
be there with her. [music playing] CORY CHALMERS: Nora,
we were told you wanted to talk to us this morning. My name's Cory Chalmers. I'm an extreme
cleaner specializing in biohazard and hoarding. I had some very exciting
news later last night. My nephew, Sheila's son,
who's in the military-- he's a Naval officer-- is coming home. And he asked last night
could he come to my house and visit a few days. So we got to get moving today. MICHAEL TOMPKINS:
Well, I love that. I'm serious. I love that. CORY CHALMERS: Well, good. Let's do it. Let's get going. Donate. Yep. Donate, donate. Donate. Cookbooks, donate. CORY CHALMERS: Things
are going great so far. She's letting the sisters
make decisions while she hangs out in the tent. Keep. [music playing] Decide on one of them? Would that be OK? I just bought those
for my car or something. Throw them in a keep box. Keep. Oh, I know where
all this stuff goes. Moving things. I'll go back in the
house and place this later. MICHELLE: It's been
kind of slow going. At this rate, it would
take weeks, if not months, to go through everything. [music playing] [gags] Gagging. I have to stop. Ugh! Odor is very foul and lingering. [hyperventilating] What's wrong? [sobbing] Oh my gosh. CORY CHALMERS: You can't
do this to yourself, OK? I understand how
you're feeling, but you can't beat yourself up, OK? You can't go back. There's nothing you
can do to go back. MICHAEL TOMPKINS: There she is. We're just talking-- NORA: You all are throwing
too much stuff away out there. Is that right? The donate boxes? NORA: Yes. [sobbing] What's the matter? Verlie's upset. About what? Oh, I'm just
feeling sad and guilty because when I let you
come home from my house, I didn't know it was like this. Well, don't feel sad. Feel happy that you're
able to help me now. OK. Are you OK with us
helping you, though, now? Yeah, I'm OK. I just-- I'm sorry you're
going through this-- No, I just love you. I love you, too, sweetie. [sighs] [music playing] What'd you-- well,
wait a minute. Did you find those binoculars? They're expensive,
and I'm selling them. There should have
been a little pair. What are you looking for? My binoculars. NORA: If they were in a--
if they were in the case, we never took them out. They're $2,000. Where are they? NORA: I know those
binoculars in there. I know that I could
sell them within a day, and I know what I can get
out for it because I've got the receipt of what I paid for. CORY CHALMERS: I feel like
we're going back to yesterday afternoon when you
started to check out and you started to
get stressed, and I don't want to do that to you. So I need to make sure
your head's still in this and you still really
want us to help. NORA: It is. I just don't want $4,000,
$5,000, $6,000 worth thrown away either. CORY CHALMERS: Dr. Tompkins
has some work to do. He's got to sit down with her
and see if we can't proceed. But at this point,
it's not looking good. What were your concerns, Nora,
when you went into the house? That things will
be thrown away or have been thrown
away or donated which I would not have permitted. [music playing] CORY CHALMERS: There was an
entire apartment building that burned down a couple
of cities over, and 48 families were homeless. Yeah? They're going to
come and get all this and give it to all
those families. Does that help just knowing that
these families are getting it? Oh, this makes me happy. It really does. That's what we like to hear. Yeah. [music playing] NORA: When I was in second
grade, our home burned down, so I know how
devastating that is. And I just want to give whatever
we can to these victims. [music playing] CORY CHALMERS: And I just
want to really applaud you. I mean, I think they
took 75 boxes away, which for me is a record. And hopefully, that'll
motivate you to let go of even more tomorrow morning, OK? Because that's the last we have. Tomorrow morning's it. [music playing] Let's go. Can we donate this? It's a curtain. [music playing] Where am I? [laughs] NORA: When I walked
in the front door, it felt like I was in a dream. I just couldn't
believe it was my home. This means so much to me. I can't-- [sobs]. SHEILA: It actually looked like
someone waved a magic wand. It brought us all to tears. When Kevin was alive,
this space was filled with love, caring, kindness. Then we lost Kevin, and
you filled the space around your heart with things. So what brought us
here was to bring love and caring back in your life. It feels like there's
been some weight lifted off of my heart. I mean that. I mean that with all my heart. MICHAEL TOMPKINS: Now Nora
can create new memories of love and caring. And it was there. It was right there in the room. You could see it.
