By Cyndi Ingle
When hearing about deaths in long term care (LTC) facilities during the Covid-19 pandemic the rationalization for some is that the people dying are old, have lived good lives, and had underlying health issues. This callous attitude can only be held by those who have not gone through the heartbreak of losing a loved one in an often brutal and lonely way.
Lives lost due to Covid-19 in LTC
According to the Province of Ontario site, to date (January 23/21), 3,333 residents of LTC homes and 11 staff members have died from Covid-19. There are 19,410 people (13,854 residents, and 5,556 staff members) who have been infected with the virus at LTC homes.
What is it like to not be able to hold your mom’s hand as she passes away?
Sadly Anita Irvine knows firsthand as her 92 year old mother Hildegard (Hilde) Schwenk contracted Covid and passed away on November 9/20 during the catastrophic outbreak at Willowgrove Long Term Care in Ancaster.
Living in Nazi Germany as a teenager, Hilde survived bombing raids and saw soldiers lying dead along the side of the road, but she couldn’t survive Covid-19.
The progression of the virus in LTC
The virus has infiltrated LTC facilities in Ontario with disastrous results, with some homes that escaped outbreaks during the first wave in early 2020 now experiencing brutal outbreaks. Such was the case at Willowgrove.
Now that Ontario is well into a second wave of the virus case numbers are again climbing. The “iron ring of protection” that Premier Ford promised turned out to be simply waiting for the vaccine to be administered to residents and staff at LTC homes and bringing in the Red Cross to help in homes such as Roberta Place in Barrie. Residents and staff in many homes across the province are still waiting for their first dose of the vaccine.
There are 626 LTC homes in Ontario and 252 or 40% are now in outbreak.
The City of Hamilton site reports that there are currently (as of January 23/21) 30 institution outbreaks with Shalom Village Nursing Home being the most impacted. Shalom Village has 181 total cases, with 90 residents and 86 staff affected and 17 deaths.
Hilde’s story
Hilde as a young woman
Anita is bravely sharing her mother’s story so that Monkeybiz.ca readers can understand how heartbreaking it is to lose a loved one in this cruel manner and how important it is to wear a mask and follow instructions from health care professionals to stop the spread.
As Anita explains, “She was a strong lady, who loved her family, but was not strong enough to beat this horrendous disease.”
Hilde was born in Germany and moved to England after WW2 where she met Anita’s father. The family immigrated to Canada in 1964.
“She had a long life with many difficult times. War, moving away from her home, divorce. But she always took care of her family.”
As well as being a wife, and mother of three, Hilde sold real estate for many years until she retired. She loved going for walks on the beach at Confederation Park and meeting friends for coffee. And she enjoyed trying her luck at Casino Rama and at Elements Casino Flamboro.
Life after lockdown
Before she contracted the virus Hilde was frail but in relatively good health. Anita would visit her mom at Willowgrove weekly, but that all changed in March 2020 with the first Covid-19 lockdown.
After that time Anita and her family had window visits with her mom and courtyard visits from a distance. During the first wave there were no Covid cases at Willowgrove and Anita and her family were happy and grateful that her mom had been kept safe.
“The staff loved Mum. She would join in most of the activities that they had to offer. They sent us countless photos of mum and what she was doing since March. The nurse practitioner called me every day, and even gave me her personal cell number.”
Unfortunately everything changed on October 22/20, when an asymptomatic worker brought Covid into the residence. By the end of the outbreak 19 people had died and over 90 were infected. The last time Anita was able to see her mom in person was on October 20th, two days before the first case of Covid 19 was diagnosed at the home.
How Covid-19 affected Hilde
As one of the 90 people affected by the virus at Willowgrove Hilde’s symptoms included extreme tiredness, and the inability to eat or drink. She was dehydrated and was given fluids, but nothing helped. She had a minor cough and a fever.
“The disease took her quickly. The residence said we could be with her but we declined. Even with PPE the home had so many cases, including essential visitors. We had a Zoom visit to say our goodbyes while the nurses held her hand. I still cry every day, this is tough. I just want to pick up the phone and call her,” states Anita.
No sympathy for anti-maskers
Living with the heartbreak of losing her mom Anita understandably has no sympathy for anti-maskers. She has even had the outrageous experience of having someone tell her that they didn’t believe the story of how her mom passed.
Her message to anti-mask protesters: “I don’t understand how wearing a mask is infringing on your human rights and thinking it will make you sick. If you are so sick that you claim that you can’t wear a mask for 20 minutes in a grocery store, you shouldn’t go out.”
A heartfelt final message from Anita…
“Please stay home if you can. Wear a mask and social distance. Be nice, be kind, there are so many angry people out there.”
