Life is not fair. This is not a surprise to me, in fact I routinely tell people just that. But over the past month I have had the unfortunate and very unpleasant experience of seeing just how unjust and unfair circumstances can be when a system that is meant to provide care and safety breaks down and the helpless become victims.
A man I never met is at the heart of my story. Mr Williams of Pictou County Nova Scotia was the father of a woman I both admire and respect. If she is an example of his values and his strengths he was a remarkable man. He was in his late 60's, not so many years older than my husband and myself. He must have worked and planned for the golden years, the years when his children were happy and grown, when he and his wife of decades could spend time together doing all those "someday'' things. You know the ones I mean, when we retire we will spend time with friends, volunteer at the church suppers, go on a trip etc. We all have the list.
Mr Williams had Alzheimer's disease, he had been a sufferer for over three years. This disrupted his life and his routines and the lives of those nearest and dearest to him. Alzheimer's makes us need the familiar, resist changes and it makes us frightened when we are placed in an unknown place or are around people we don't know. This summer Mr Williams suffered a heart attack and was hospitalized. He would not live to come home but for the remaining few months of his life, he was bruised and beaten on more than one occasion and his family members were put through untold agony and worry.
The fine Canadian health care system failed Mr Williams and his family. Or more specifically, the health care system of Pictou County Nova Scotia and our municipal, provincial and federal politicians failed Mr Williams.
The press following this story have brought out the facts. But where are our politicians, not just the keepers of our health care system but the very people who need to design and implement the changes and the policies.
Nothing will help Mr Williams but his family desperately need to know that changes will take place. They need to see improvements so that they will have some small comfort in the fact that the people who failed Mr Williams will not disappoint or damage another family.
Someone has been charged for the physical abuse Mr Williams suffered, the court date is in December. But the question should be asked, how did that person get to be in a position of trust in a hospital with ill patients who cannot defend themselves, in fact patients who in many cases have mental demons to fight.
I realize there are limited resources, that finances are tight in our province, that there is no magic wand to be waved and everything will be all right. Having a warm body available for a job, a position, or a volunteer post does not mean "we" should put the basic requirements for human safety and dignity aside because no other alternative is obvious. We all need to look for solutions that will not perpetuate a system that fails, we need to look beyond what is now commonly accepted and find the darkness lurking behind the scenes and get solutions in place. The population is aging and the face of society is changing. How will the increasing numbers of Alzheimer's sufferers be accommodated? How will the aging be cared for? When you are in your 70's and have lost the mind and body of your youth where will you be living and who will be offering you basic care?
For all the details please read the story www.ngnews.ca/index.cfm?sid=296985&sc=49.
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