Elderly Woman Attacked by a Stranger in Nursing Home
Nursing homes are supposed to be a safe refuge for your elderly loved ones. You expect there to be security measures to keep them safe and enough staff to keep them guarded at all times. In Bangor, Maine an elderly woman was in her room when a 49-year-old woman whom she did not know went into her room and attempted to suffocate her.
Police suspect that the woman who attacked the elderly victim went into the nursing home to look for a victim. The attacker was currently on probation for mailing bomb threats to Bangor-area schools in 2007 and has a history of mental illness. She accepted a six-year sentence that was jointly recommended by the district attorney and her defense attorney. By pleading guilty, the attacker admitted to removing the elderly woman’s glasses and straddling her legs to hold her down as the woman sat in her wheelchair. She then took the pillow off a roommate’s bed and pushed it tightly against the victim’s face. A staff member found the victim slumped down in her wheelchair looking pale. The woman was terrified and could not breathe.
It is a miracle that this poor elderly woman was not killed in this incident. There should have been a stronger security system set up at this nursing home, so strangers cannot just wander in and access the elderly’s bedrooms so easily. At the very least, a front desk should be at the entrance to ensure that guests are properly checked in and identified. This woman was also deaf and soft-spoken according to the news report, and therefore had no way to call for help. These vulnerable patients need special attention and care and the nursing home failed to provide this resident of that care and should be held partly responsible for the attack.
