Gene Hackman's wife searched online for flu and Covid symptoms

BBC ^ | April 16 | BBC

[RandFan]

Betsy Arakawa, the wife of actor Gene Hackman, searched the internet for information about flu and Covid symptoms and breathing techniques in the days before she died, police records have revealed.

Arakawa asked Google questions including whether Covid could cause dizziness or nosebleeds, according to files released by the Santa Fe Sheriff and reported by the Associated Press, and New York Times.

The 65-year-old pianist died of hantavirus, which can cause flu-like symptoms and develop into a life-threatening lung condition.

Authorities believe she died around 12 February, and her husband, 95, who had Alzheimer's disease, died on 18 February. Their bodies were found on 26 February.

The Sheriff files include details of the police investigation along with photos of the couple's cluttered house in New Mexico, and bodycam footage.

They show that on 10 February, Arakawa searched online for "can Covid cause dizziness?" and "Flu and nosebleeds".

The following day, she emailed her massage therapist to cancel an appointment, saying her husband had woken up with "flu/cold-like symptoms" but had tested negative for Covid.

She also ordered oxygen canisters from Amazon for "respiratory support".

Police have previously said Arakawa made multiple calls to a health clinic on 12 February for medical treatment, which she never received.

She was found to have contracted hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare respiratory illness carried by rodents. Nests and some dead rodents were found in outbuildings of the couple's house.

[cnsmom]

I’m the same way, I justuse the same companies and request the same technicians that have been to my house.

[woodbutcher1963]

Denial is also a real issue.
Especially, if she did not have any close friends/relatives keeping an eye on HER.

When my wife recently had the flu it made her very depressed. Which she does not normally have an issue with.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

I know, but aren't those in-home care personnel bonded?

Because that renders them incapable of blabbing to the media about your bladder control issues?

The weekly gossip papers seem to argue otherwise.

[mewzilla]

Quite possible.

There are legal routes you can go, but can be expensive and stressful, for patient and/or caregiver.

Since money doesn’t seem to have been a problem, I’m thinking there were other reasons she didn’t do that.

[BradyLS]

What is the morbid fascination with these people’s deaths?

My guess: All that talent, fame and wealth that came to sudden, mysterious, private, and avoidable end.

[Rockingham]

The most common desire of just about everyone is to die at home, peacefully, cared for by family, with minimal visitors and limited medical intervention. As it is, good end of life care is hard to find and coordinate, whether in an institution or at home. My guess is that Hackman resisted and delayed the necessary decisions.

Moreover, even people with means can be unwilling to spend money to get a full measure of end of life care. For Gene Hackman and his wife, the remoteness of their home and large dogs would also have been a problem in getting nurses into the home. Many people are afraid of dogs, and it seems to be more of an issue with Hispanic women caregivers.

[SMARTY]

I was thinking of prefessional nursing ... people who have a career of care giving and familiarity with such scenarios

[Rockingham]

Good professional home nurses exist, but they are in short supply, tough to find, and require hawk-eyed supervision. Or at least that was so in four recent instances that I know of personally, as far apart as Michigan and Florida.

Also, judging from the pictures that I saw yesterday afternoon, there would have been an additional factor against calling in outsiders. Over the years, Hackman and his wife had tastefully renovated the original home and added a guest house and other outbuildings.

For some time though, the interior of the home had become an embarrassing mess. There were accumulations of unwashed clothes, dirty dishes, trash cans with used diapers, counters with an excess of personal care items, household debris, and a pantry full of expired food. Rats were evident on the outside of the property.

Apparently, as Gene Hackman's Alzheimer's Disease progressed, he and the household dogs required constant care and attention from his wife. That let routine house chores accumulate to the point of squalor. The Hackmans may have feared that help from outsiders might trigger adverse reports to the authorities and legal intervention to remove Hackman from the home.

[SMARTY]

I saw those pics. The woman was not a homemaker or even a decent housekeepper

I couldn’t live like that

[Rockingham]

Hackman’s wife plainly let things go. In fairness, it is a fairly common problem, with age and declining health leading to isolation and dismal housekeeping that becomes a reason for further isolation out of embarrassment.