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The gist of the NYT story is that this elderly couple had been together for 15 years but were not married. He was 80, and she was 84 when she developed Parkinson's with dementia. Her goddaughter elected to have her removed from his home and put into a care home 3000 miles away. Due to pandemic-related travel restrictions, the state where she now lived was frequently closed to travel and he was able to see her only 4 times in the ensuing months, and she begged him to take her back to their home.
So he "kidnapped" her and started driving cross country. They were apprehended 2 days later. He was given a seven-month suspended sentence and a two-year restraining order that barred him from visiting her. She died a few weeks later in her sleep and he died in a car crash a couple of days after that.
Sad story... Also, reminder of how much/little control unmarried couple might have late in life...
"It was a journey that appeared doomed from the beginning: An octogenarian couple, one spiriting the opposite away from a residential care house in a white Mazda pickup, the breadth of the treacherous Australian outback laid out earlier than them.
How many people clicked on this story thinking it was related to OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE?
Incredible! It was clearly marked as to which was the paywall version and which was not. I tried to anticipate the paywall comment and provided an alternative simply avoid this type of comment. This snarky remark is completely uncalled for.
It's almost like it was written in a foreign language and then translated back into English by a translation program. It's a sad story, but it doesn't sound like he was capable of caring for her, especially not on an extended road trip through dangerous country.
I suspect it was translated by google or similar. The expressions are certainly not Australian colloquial expressions.
The gist of the NYT story is that this elderly couple had been together for 15 years but were not married. He was 80, and she was 84 when she developed Parkinson's with dementia. Her goddaughter elected to have her removed from his home and put into a care home 3000 miles away. Due to pandemic-related travel restrictions, the state where she now lived was frequently closed to travel and he was able to see her only 4 times in the ensuing months, and she begged him to take her back to their home.
So he "kidnapped" her and started driving cross country. They were apprehended 2 days later. He was given a seven-month suspended sentence and a two-year restraining order that barred him from visiting her. She died a few weeks later in her sleep and he died in a car crash a couple of days after that.
They should have just been left alone. They both died, anyway, & without each other.
I've been to the Australian Outback. It's beautiful & remote, & dangerous if you are frail and/or don't have survival skills, but better to die there than what happened to these two.
There is a lot we do not know about this story but some interesting points were made in the comments section of the NYT.
I am assuming the goddaughter moved the lady into care in Western Australia to be near her, as she must have been the holder of Power of Guardianship, which enables medical decisions to be made. Being married to someone does not automatically grant this power, nor of Power of Attorney.
This move of the lady from Queensland would not have happened without very considerable effort as the borders of Western Australia have been closed to the rest of the country for most of the pandemic and still are for a couple more weeks. An exemption for the lady to enter would not have been granted without strong reasons. It was probably felt that her partner was not capable of making arrangements for her when he was himself in hospital. It is not clear how he was able to move into and out of the state and how he supposedly drove in in January.
People online wondered why he could not have moved in with her in her Aged Care Facility. That does happen here at times, to enter Aged Care one has to be assessed and the person is offered a level of care thought to be appropriate. It may be a homecare package or residential care package. The costs involved are a maze too complicated to explain.
It is clear that what this man did was very dangerous for both of them, even though supposedly well intentioned . The route he took was the sort of route taken by experienced drivers, often in convoys and equipped with satellite phones, there being no towns, tarred roads, anywhere to get help and repairs. It was 43 degrees, about 110F, in the shade. She was found in a condition that required her to be flown to Perth for treatment.
A lot of the details of this story will probably never be known because of privacy needs. It is very very sad story indeed.
They should have just been left alone. They both died, anyway, & without each other.
I've been to the Australian Outback. It's beautiful & remote, & dangerous if you are frail and/or don't have survival skills, but better to die there than what happened to these two.
Whoever found them would be surely be legally obliged to provide care and help.
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