Posted on 02/26/2006 4:41:16 AM PST by SheLion
A WOMAN in a wheelchair must go outside into the cold weather for a cigarette even though she is 93 - because smoking is banned in her nursing home.
Gladys Gornall, known as Chris, of the Norwood Lodge Nursing Home in Nore Road, Portishead, took up smoking 10 years ago after her husband died.
Daughter Joan Mock, 68, says it is the only thing she has left that keeps her happy.
And she says she fears her mother is more likely to die from exposure to cold winter weather than from smoking.
Mrs Mock said: "She's 93, she's in a wheelchair and she has to smoke outside. Last week I had to stand outside with her with an umbrella over her while it rained. We know it's not politically correct any more, but she is old and she will die of hypothermia rather than smoking at this rate."
Mrs Gornall said: "I'm sick and tired of going out there in the cold. I'm fed up with the whole situation. What else have I got to look forward to? I've got no other pleasures."
Mrs Mock said the home used to have a small room where smokers could light up. But she said the smoking ban in the building has now been enforced for health and safety reasons.
She said: "For God's sake, what can she do? There aren't any other smokers in the home now. This is all she has left as her bit of independence. It's so pathetic."
She said relatives of other residents at the home have sympathised with Mrs Gornall's plight.
The only real health problem the pensioner has is osteoarthritis in her knees.
Mrs Mock said: "She says they aren't going to stop her having a fag."
Mrs Gornall moved into the home with her husband, Albert, in 1996 but he died within weeks of their arrival. She took up smoking soon after his death.
Gill Lee, group operations manager for Belmont Care, which owns the home, said the non-smoking policy had been in place since before Mrs Gornall went into the nursing home. She said: "We've had a policy for years in Norwood Lodge of no smoking, mainly on health and safety grounds.
"Mrs Gornall, her daughter and her social worker had a meeting with the matron in May 2005 to explain to her the no-smoking policy in the home, and this was confirmed to her in writing."
She said none of the staff smoke inside the building. But she would not comment on whether the company's policy on enforcing the smoking ban had been tightened.
And she said allowing Mrs Gornall just to smoke in her own room would be "even worse".
She said: "To allow smoking in their room would cause even more health and safety issues."
To whom it may concern, please knock off the personal stuff.
Huh? You said it yourself, it is a 24/7 health care establishment. The 90-some year old woman doesn't own it.
The anti-outside-into-the-cold-weather people have descended to depths.
A big part of the problem with incidents such as this is that highly-flammable garments are routinely worn in settings where a person is not dressed for normal activity; all sources of ignition should be carefully controlled around an oxygen bottle user.
Welders learn early on that polyester is not their friend.
Try living in Ireland with a smoking ban in pubs!!
This is bull and they KNOW it. It's no safety hazard, but just an annoyance to non-smokers and not much of one if she smokes in a room away from everyone else.
Someone I know had their 82 year old mother smoke out in the cold. I told them in a light joking manner it was not right to do that to her. They now allow her to smoke in a room upstairs with the window open when she comes to visit. Not the same situation as the woman in the story but not nice none the less. I'm glad they thought better of it.
So I can see!!
*Irish_Thatcherite smoking a cigar*
If you didn't smoke you would have one hellava blood hound nose, too.
Listen, I am sorry for your troubles, although I have no proof, just your word. But if life on the outside of your house is so hard on you, maybe you should just enjoy the comforts of your home.
I do very much, thanks. It would be nice if smokers would just be considerate. If you are unable to go without a cigarette for the 1-2 hours of eating at a nice restaurant, maybe you have a really bad emotional problem.
Maybe you should walk a mile in my shoes- oh I'm sorry, I'm unable to walk a mile anymore. Here is a nice place for some information that you are sorely lacking.
http://arthritis.about.com/od/rheumatoidarthritis/a/rheumatoidlung.htm
True!!
NURSING home!!!!
Double amputees feel phantom pain in their missing limbs just as strongly as if the limbs remained.
on its own, flammable is fine.
what? was that meant for me or someone else?
Does the 90 year old woman own it?
"I can smell smoke coming through my car's air conditioner" ... you sure have one hellava blood hound nose there. hehe
SPOKANE, Wash. - The state's tough new anti-smoking law has an unlikely opponent: a retired doctor who argues the ban is forcing elderly smokers in nursing homes to take unnecessary risks.
Yes, they never think of the law of unintended consequences!
I have two ionic breeze units in my apartment. The lady that lives in the apartment underneath me smokes like a chimney and the odor comes up through plumbing and vents. Before I bought the units my place had an overwhelming stale cigarette odor, but it is now much more manageable with the Ionic Breeze. Still, I can smell the cigarette smoke to some degree. That's the problem with apartment living........you have to put up with everyone else's odors.
And I'm a she by the way. No, that is another problem. Smokey cars and fireplaces. That is what I use the recirculate button for. Believe it or not, I used to smoke. However, my husband and I both were considerate smokers. We never smoked in anyone's home that didn't smoke( no matter how much they said "go ahead") and we never smoked in restaurants. Our smoking served one good purpose- it made our daughters detest it so much, they never have smoked and won't even hang out with people that smoke.
The most wonderful moment came after I quit smoking and my oldest daughter came home from college and gave me a BIG hug and said I smelled so good.
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