He Feels Guilty For Helping His Elderly Neighbor With Dementia During A Tornado Scare
Yesterday, tornadoes and storms swept across the state where this man lives. As soon as he heard the tornado sirens in his town go off, he helped his wife into the basement.
However, he quickly saw that his elderly neighbor’s son wasn’t at home, and this woman has terrible dementia.
He made his way over to her house as quickly as he could, and he knocked on her front door nonstop until she finally opened it up.
He informed his neighbor that they needed to get to the bathroom quickly, as her home does not have a basement to shelter in.
“She was so confused…she asked me who I was several times, why I was there…I met her before her dementia took hold, but she didn’t remember me,” he explained.
“I tried to be gentle with what I said, but also tried to urge her along. We waited in the bathroom until the tornado was passed.”
“I had given her the phone, predialed 911 just in case there was going to be a problem so all she had to do was press send.”
He found her emergency contacts on the fridge, and he called up her granddaughter to let her know that she was alright.
He still couldn’t get a hold of his neighbor’s son, and his neighbor’s granddaughter was concerned about his safety.
Halfpoint – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person
Thankfully, his neighbor’s son pulled right into the driveway just a couple of minutes after this phone call.
He never leaves his mom alone unattended, but he ran out quickly to grab some candles in case they lost power.
The tornado never touched down in their town, and the storm they experienced came along with some hail but no damage.
“Here’s where I feel guilty…I’ve worked with elderly and dementia people all my life as a caregiver,” he said.
“I know this was traumatic in more ways than one for her. Today, she keeps telling her son the tornados are coming and is terrified. He keeps having to calm her down and keeps having me come over as ‘the man who told her about the tornados’ to say they’ve gone and they’re not coming back.”
“I feel like I shouldn’t have gone over. That I should have let her alone because the tornados didn’t even touch us. We were completely safe. At the time, my brain was in emergency mode, and in the moment, all I knew was that I needed to get her to safety.”
He’s hoping his elderly neighbor will forget the tornado scare quickly and feel better soon. He knows that panic and anxiety are some of the worst feelings to experience as a person, especially when you feel very lost in the world.
What advice do you have for him?
You can read the original post on Reddit here.
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