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A 90 year old woman shot herself as sheriff's deputies attempted to evict her from her foreclosed home in Akron, Ohio became a symbol of the nation's home mortgage crisis.

The 90 year old, Addie Polk's home was foreclosed by Fannie Mae, after acquiring the mortgage in 2007.

Addie Folk is being treated at Akron General Medical Center after she shot herself at least twice in the upper body on Wednesday afternoon, her city councilman said.

Neighbor Robert Dillon, 62, used a ladder to enter a second-story bathroom window of Polk's home after he and the deputies heard loud noises inside, Dillon said. "I was calling her name as I went in, and she wasn't responding," he said.

Dillon found her lying on a bed, and he could see she was breathing. He also noticed a long-barreled handgun on the bed. He assumed the gun was there for protection. He touched her on the shoulder.

"Then she kind of moved toward me a little and I saw that blood, and I said, 'Oh, no. Miss Polk musta done shot herself,' " Dillon said.

Deputies had tried to serve Polk's eviction notice more than 30 times before Wednesday's incident, Sommerville said. She never came to the door, but the notes the deputies left would always disappear, so they knew she was inside, he said.

"There's a lot of people like Miss Polk right now. That's the sad thing about it," said Akron City Council President Marco Sommerville, who had met Polk before and rushed to the scene when contacted by police. "They might not be as old as her, some could be as old as her. This is just a major problem."

"I'm glad it's not too late for Miss Polk, because she could have taken her life," Sommerville said. "Miss Polk will probably end up on her feet. But I'm not sure if anybody else will."

This story is newsworthy because of the impact. More people are facing similar problems daily due to the economic crisis our country is facing. I feel that since Addie Polk is 90 years old, although she is not a celebrity, that gives the story prominence.