When my dad had to put my grandfather in a nursing home, I thought it was going to be good for him. He needed constant care and attention that none of us could give him at the time.
We promised him it would only be temporary, so he obliged to stay at a nursing home nearby our house. I can still remember the first day I went to visit him. It had been a week since I last saw him, and tears welled up in his eyes.
My dad and I asked him what's wrong, and he just said he missed us. We later learned that those tears weren't just because he missed us, but because he hated it there.
How could I have been so oblivious to notice that he was upset? The place had the same vibe as a morgue, and the staff weren't so gentle to the elderly people who didn't have their family visiting them. Ever since that experience, nursing homes have left a bad taste in my mouth.
Coming across a recent viral video of a nursing home employee abusing an elderly man on a wheelchair who was recovering from surgery simply shattered my heart. How can something so awful go unnoticed?
I'm glad this secret camera footage has been released, because it's about time that we do something about this ongoing issue in our country.
Here's Hussein Younes's devastating story:
According to the Daily Mail, Younes's six children filed a civil lawsuit against a Michigan nursing home alleging that their father was mistreated during his brief stay.
Camera footage, secretly set up by the concerned family, captured nurses slapping the 89-year-old man on his head and throwing him on his bed. They recorded more than 100 video clips of "unspeakable horrors."
His family alleges that their father was denied water and a button to press for immediate assistance.
Not only was he harassed physically, but the nurses harassed him verbally.
In one clip, one nurse says, "[I] can't stand this Arab and all he does is f***** hollar." When Younes grunts, the nurse replies, "I'm sick of your stupid a**. Get your a*** up in here. F**** b****."
Younes suffered a stroke a few years ago, causing one side of his body to go limp. He went to the nursing home after undergoing abdominal surgery in 2015.
After several cases of abuse, the father complained to his kids of his mistreatment, proving the abuse by showing them cuts and bruises on his skin.
Younes reportedly lost a lot of weight during that short time and would have "anxiety attacks causing him to shake, quiver, grunt, and yell."
The Michigan facility said the employees involved in the abuse have been fired since learning about the incident.
One of Younes's sons said he and his family came forward to the media to show the horrific abuse that can go on in the places we are supposed to trust.
"[W]hat happened to me and my dad and my family, what we've been through, is unbearable," his son, Salim, told Hometown Life. "The purpose that I'm here (for) is to let the world know that this place is no good. I don't advise anybody to put their family over there."
Please share this story to spread awareness about elder abuse! It's up to us to make a difference.
[Source: Daily Mail]