The rugged land near Bagley, Minn., is still dotted with the woods, lakes and swamps from which Jennings Sunderland's uncle carved a dairy farm 100 years ago -- treacherous territory for an Alzheimer's patient.
Sunderland's wife, Clarice, a retired nurse with the disease, began wandering this summer, so Sunderland would settle her in a chair in the barn while he and his son, Kurt, milked the cows, or take her along in their pickup to the fields.
At home in the late afternoon, he had the chain.
Tired from the chores he began before dawn, Sunderland, 78, would settle in his recliner beside his wife of 50 years, watch TV, and sometimes fall asleep. To keep Clarice close, he looped a length of chain around her and her chair, the other end in his hand. "If she started to get up or lift off that chain, well, it rattled and woke me up,'' Sunderland said. "It was a pretty good idea, I thought.''
The county attorney disagreed. What followed was a two-month drama in which Sunderland was jailed and his fragile wife removed from their home.
The battle only ended late last week when the county attorney dropped the charges and avoided a court showdown Monday over whether Sunderland's method for coping with his 76-year-old wife's illness was cruelty or kindness.
Now the family is concentrating on how to get Clarice home again.
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A Devoted Husband, and a Wife in Chains
Not a good idea, Mr. S!
ReplyDeleteCaregiving is the hardest job in the world. It's also the most draining.
ReplyDeleteThe chains was a good idea in that she made the noise and that woke him up. But, he should have used something else. A bell or something.
good golly i don't think Mr. Sunderland meant any harm to his wife these folks who live in rural areas farm families work harder physically than most of us in a month they deal with life and problems in different ways than those in urban or less rural areas his intent is what counts here and his intent was to keep his wife Clarice from wandering from harm in a way he knew would work and from what i read here his unconventional creative method worked successfully but others strongly disagreed and turned their lives upside down now the Sunderland's way of life is over
ReplyDeleteWithout further knowledge, this seems like an unfortunate case of overreaction in terms of those trying to protect patient rights. At the same time, it also seems as if this fellow was given little training by the medical community on how best to deal with his wife's tendency to wander.
ReplyDeleteYes, Wellscent Health, I agree. Sunderland needed help -- and probably some good rest.
ReplyDeleteCaregivers don't sleep properly and they wear themselves out with worry.
I do not think he meant any harm to his wife.
I am sorry for this man. I feel he was doing the best he could.
ReplyDeleteTaking care of his wife must be very difficult and hard on him.
He made a bad decision, but I don't think his intention was bad.
The county totally over-reacted and placed Clarice in a nursing home - without contacting any of the adult children. One of those children was an RN and Power of Attorney. What happened to Clarice in the nursing home was horrific. She was far better off at her home with her husband. The county totally overstepped on this one. Jennings did not use the best judgement - but he is 78 years old and doing the best he could to take care of his wife.
ReplyDeleteWhy didn't the county offer help to these people? Instead they make a situation far worse and Clarice actually does suffer physical pain from the county's actions. His intent was to keep his wife safe and it should have never been handled this way. That's the problem with having county social workers who aren't licensed social workers. They have all this power and no knowledge to back it up.
ReplyDelete