Family Urges Others To Make Random Visits To Nursing Homes After Mother Is Found By Herself ‘Gasping for Breath’

Sep 18, 2019 by apost team

No one wants to see their loved ones treated unfairly or unkindly. The decision to place elderly loved ones into nursing homes is a difficult and highly personal one. Still, once the decision has been made, the hope is that loved ones will receive the best care and live in comfort and peace.

That did not seem to be the case when James Brown visited his 80-year-old mother, Esther, in her Ohio nursing home and found her slumped over at a desk, her head in a pillow, drooling saliva and possibly gasping for air. James' pastor, Julia Wiggins, documented the event by taking photos and posting them on Facebook, which has led to a community outcry of how the elderly are treated in nursing homes.

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James stated that it took almost 10 minutes before any of the staff showed up and reacted to the situation. He decided to go ahead and make a formal complaint to the Ohio Department of Health. Pastor Wiggins posted on Facebook that the nursing home staff was really just there to collect a paycheck and that they didn't care about the health and welfare of the elderly residents, reports The Daily Mail.

The events of that day have also urged Pastor Wiggins to ask the community and church members to answer a specific call to action—to randomly visit nursing homes to check on patients and make sure that the staff are doing their jobs, caring for the elderly, and not allowing incidents like this to occur.

While these outcries have been heard, a few nurses have noted that Esther Brown may have been placed in the position for her own protection. It's possible that she was receiving treatment and placed in the position to keep her comfortable while awaiting medication or a procedure.

Still, Esther's son, James, and Pastor Wiggins found the event to be devastating and outrageous. The two claimed that they called for assistance for over 10 minutes before anyone came to help. From their vantage point, Esther was being neglected and left in an uncomfortable and inhumane position.

This is definitely not the first time someone has come forward complaining about the conditions of various nursing homes, yet we continue to see these types of stories in the news. What do you think happened? Do you think Esther was being neglected, or do you think she was waiting to receive treatment? What would you do if you found your mother or loved one like this in your local nursing home?