The recent death of a vulnerable disability woman in Adelaide, Ann Marie Smith, with cerebral palsy, who could not move or talk, yet still had a mind without intellectual disability enough to know what was happening to her, has shocked our society, that she died through neglect over a year. While so called in 'care' in her own house. All alone and trapped in her body for shame it should never have happened.
While unable to move or speak or get help and at the mercy of a carer who did not look after her at all or feed her or bath her is horrifying and heartbreaking - again shows how society doesnt care about people who are vulnerable like this. It shows people didnt care enough to visit her, even friends,(7News Adelaide, May 16th 2020 and Guardian Newspaper May 2020) neighbours or check on her - the care organization at least - and there was no one knowing what was happening to her how lonely how isolated she was and then when discovered to die in hospital so badly damaged was she.
If there had at least been a camera at the house, the organization could have seen that the worker was not feeding this girl, not bathing her, that there was no fridge or nutritional food there. That she was not being taken out to see the light of day. Her parents would have been brokenhearted if they knew that their beloved daughter was not being looked after. Didnt anyone care at all?
The woman whose photo was shown in the Guardian, shows a lovely girl was once looked after her parents who cared enough about her to have a house built for her in a nice area in ADelaide, Kensington, before they passed away. They probably organized for their daughter to be cared for by this Integrity carers organization. INstead,the lovely woman
Ann Marie Smith - was neglected and left on her own everyday in a chair which she slept on. The worker came in apparently but was not caring for her. The careworker should do prison time. This girl died because of this carers, and organization's neglect. NDIS should be sued as well as Integrity Carers. Police say this is a a manslaugher investigation.
where was the so called carer worker who was meant to be caring for her what was she doing instead? Did she steal the refrigerator? For shame,
Showing the terrible neglect of this lovely woman who lived in a nice house in a good area, Kensington, by herself, her parents built that for her and left money for an organization to care for her now that they were gone
and yet she has not been looked after - if only there had been cameras and people checking her visiting making sure she was ok....surveillance back to a care organization to she how she was in the house all alone like that - definitely isolated and at the mercy of this worker who was meant to care for her - but she was was not looking after her because
instead Ann Marie was left on a bed lounge cane chair for a year all day and slept there at night and she was found malnutritioned, the bed was her toilet for the last year of her life at 54 years old when then reported to police, she died in hospital her organs shutting down from severe lack of care...
The investigators said there was no fridge and were unable to locate any nutritional food in her house
She died from septic shock on 6 April 2020, with multiple organ failures and severe pressure sores.
Dear God may this never happen to anyone again.
Why was the worker allowed to treat her ward like this and not care for her properly.
The police are calling it a manslaughter investigation and want information.
Where is the organization behind this and who are they? They should be charged with negligence and the worker/carer should be charged with murder by negligence or manslaughter at the least.
If we do not care for our disability people we are the worst society ever...
we talk about isolation from a virus - but that poor woman was isolated completely to not even have her needs met, not even be able to move or talke and she should not have been ignored by the carer or the organization just because she was on her own even worse no visitors no one to care not even the carer.
That is the worse isolation ever.
Even prisoners get visitors...remember the prisoners as if you were in prison with them and those who are mistreated.... something the bible says - where is the compassion in our society?
this is most distressing because so many parents worry what will happen to their child when they are gone...including me...
this woman even had a nice house in a nice area left to her by her mother and father, who wanted her looked after...
what did her parents who had passed away, say when Ann Marie died before her time, and arrived in heaven carried by the angels, and they see their daughter - why are you here so soon darling we left you a nice house and people to look after you? But since you're here now...we are glad you are with us...because we love you... no one can neglect or hurt you now...
so sad for this family - Ann Marie might be in a better place but why was she allowed to suffer for a whole year in this world with no one caring about her except a carer who did not care.
there was a need for proper survelliance to check how this woman was doing in her vulnerable state - even cameras and they would have seen she was not being fed or looked after...care workers are not all trustworthy and will get away with what they can if no one can see it, if the disability person cannot defend or speak for themselves...
there should have been accountability and checks by the carers' organization.
and where was the NDIS in all this? Making disabilities all about money has left people bereft of human kindness, compassion or care. No one is even checking organizations to see what has happened...where was the NDIS commission? - no one followed their so called protocols and no one will without accountability and penalties... Disability vulnerable people are not protected...
We need cameras, and we need new laws and penalties to protect our disability children whether they are young or old...
IN the news that political leaders in Victoria are saying the NDIS and its commission are failing to look after those vulnerable like this and states may need to step in and override the NDIS.
Indeed it is like a bureaucratic large corporation which runs its organization so impersonal and lax that people are not being cared for, they have become just bread and butter money to some carers - who should be trained in care and required to keep doing training throughout their years of caring. INstead vulnerable disability children and adults are being abused are being hurt, or neglected and are even dying like Ann Marie Smith who knew what was happening and could not move to help herself for a year at least mistreated, neglected, starving suffering...no one reached out their hand.
We must not let this happen again...one of the police in the article said with compassion and I echo that...despicable people work in the care industry time and time again the vulnerable are hurt ...we must stand up...that could be our children, our parents, our loved ones who will suffer by a system that allows it...
Get the cameras and check the workers and check on those who cannot care for themselves...we are not living in the dark ages and yet it is a dark life when you are so isolated no one cares about you...neither should parents be isolated-
all parents need support of a special needs children and know they are safe wherever they leave them, and all disabilities people should be cared for, taken out into society for outings and properly protected with cameras in places as protection, where they are on their own or in care of others - who may not really care and only see them as a pay cheque.
I will keep fighting for stronger protection laws - people should do prison time for hurting disability persons, and for cameras in places of care for the vulnerable disability children we must make sure they are looked after.
Anndrea Wheatley
(It is notable that Stuart Robert who is head of the NDIS federal organization said the Human Services minister in charge in South Australia did not even know about this beautiful woman dying through neglect until a month after it happened. Where is the compassion?)
SA Premier Steven Marshall today announced that a taskforce will be established, chaired by disability advocate David Caudrey, to investigate gaps in the disability care system.
"This case, and the alleged horrific conditions in which Ann Marie Smith was living, have sickened us, sickened every single person in South Australia," he said.
"We must make sure this can never, ever happen again.
"I'm quite convinced that the taskforce will be able to look at this issue, identify where the gaps are … and make recommendations."(ABC news 18 May 2020)