Dementia Patient’s Thumb Cut by Roommate; Family Blamed Old Folks’ Home for Not Taking Care of Him

It’s never an easy decision to make when your family member gets sick and you don’t have the means to care for them fully on your own.

Some are entrusted to old folks’ homes, with their family hoping that the home will be able to provide good medical care and welfare for them.

Unfortunately, that may not always be the case in a shared environment, bringing more unwanted harm to the patient and family both.

Dementia Patient Got Assaulted By Roommate

Lin Yaba, a 78-year-old dementia patient living in a nursing home in Bukit Batok, had been assaulted and injured by his roommate, according to the reports sent to the media by his son Lin Qingyuan.

He was admitted to the home two years ago because of his dementia.

On the 2nd of April, Mr Lin Qingyuan received a call from the home at around 6:30pm in the evening, telling him that his father had been attacked by another man.

All he knew was that the man was also in his seventies and was a roommate of his father’s, who also suffered from dementia.

The staff then sent him a photo showing him his father’s injuries, including a 4.5cm long scratch and bruise on his forehead, and a wound of about 2cm on his right thumb.

A broken plastic cup sat in the background, and he suspected that it was the weapon used by his father’s roommate for the attack.

He was sent to the hospital by the staff at around 8:30pm and Mr Lin Qingyuan consented to doctors stitching up his father’s right thumb.

Thankfully, his injuries were only external skin injuries.

Mr Lin Qingyuan said his father still remains in the hospital for observation.

All his father said when asked about the incident was “falling down” and “older brother is going to kill me,” unable to remember or express much because of his dementia.

It also distressed Mr Lin Qingyuan to see his father still had a panicked expression while in the hospital.

Upset With Home For Not Calling The Police

Mr Lin Qingyuan expressed his unhappiness with the nursing home for not reporting the matter to the police even though his father’s injuries were severe enough to require hospital treatment.

He had to call the police himself, who later also visited the ward for investigation.

Although he questioned the nursing home on the details of the incident, they refused to disclose it to him, saying that the police were already investigating.

“At first, the hospital said that they would inform me of the details afterwards, but was silent thereafter and even refused to say whether the incident was filmed by a CCTV and other details,” he said.

As his father was a person who has a gentle personality and wouldn’t voluntarily get involved in clashes with others, he hopes to get to the bottom of the matter.

He also recounted seeing his father’s clothes stained with blood when he visited him in the hospital.

Home Was Negligent Even Before

It wasn’t the first time the home had caused Mr Lin Qingyuan and his father unhappiness with their neglectful behaviour.

Earlier in January, Mr Lin Qingyuan had visited his father in the home, only to see that his father’s feet were peeling and damp from the pus covering them.

The staff told him that their doctor had already checked on his father and deemed him to be okay, yet his father complained that he was still in pain.

He was further angered when the home told him that he could take his father to the hospital by himself. Wow.

So he did, and the doctor told him that his father was indeed suffering from an inveterate disease.

His father was later hospitalised for examination and had his wounds cleaned.

Looking For a New Home

With the assistance of social workers, Mr Lin Qingyuan is currently searching for a new home for his father to live in.