Elderly woman removed

Southern Division fire and police officers were called in to remove an elderly woman from a home for the aged at Southern Main Road, La Romaine, yesterday after a relative made a string of allegations against the management.

Glenisha Harrison said her aunt Sheila Hall, 85, had been at WIUSBSO Inc Mt Paran for the past six months, for three of which Harrison was not allowed to visit. She described Hall as her “second mother,” saying she is just seeking Hall’s interests.

“All how I tried to see my aunt, this woman kept blocking me. “(Hall) is also my godmother. That is not fair. The conditions inside seem normal, but the last time I saw Sheila, she got small. I did not like how she was looking,” Harrison said as she waited outside the home.

Hall suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. Her only son Chris, 70, a cancer patient, died three months ago. “I promised Chris on his deathbed that I will see about Aunty Sheila, and I would keep my word. I used to take care of both, but it got hard. She always wanted to go into a home.

“The woman (staff) says Aunty Sheila does not want to see me. I lived with her for years, she will talk to me. I will take her to the hospital and then to a new home.” Harrison accused a staff member of making allegations of theft against her and of taking Hall to the Mon Repos police station to fabricate a report against her.

“Chris’ funeral was on July 29,” she recalled. “The funeral home made out the invoice for her to sign and we came here to take her to the bank.

The worker said my aunt’s (blood) pressure was high and she was sleeping.” Harrison said the worker told her to return later that day. But shortly after, police arrived to her home to investigate a report of theft.

“I don’t know why this person is doing that. So after we left, they took my aunt to the police station. I just want to take her out from there (the home).” It costs $3,000 monthly to care for Hall. Yesterday was not the first time Harrison had tried to remove Hall from the home, but Hall did not want to go.

FSO Lee Felix and firefighters Aaron John and Beverly Seurattan of the Fire South Headquarters, together with police, among them PCs Badal and Burnette of the La Romaine police post, helped remove Hall from the home. Staff at the home yesterday, in turn, accused Harrison of making false accusations. They said the person in a position to comment publicly, was unavailable.