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."
That has really bugged me - it is obvious they didn't read the article........the mother MOVED there with her husband. It sounds more like what we would call an assisted living care facility, rather than a nursing home.
My late MIL chose to move into one.....that's right she chose to do so. Neither my husband nor his sisters "dumped" her there.
Maybe because it is her HOME?????????
Because the daughter probably has a family and also works. This way, the old woman has care 24/7 in the nursing home. It's not always easy for a working family to take in the old folks.
Listen...........
Because the daughter probably has a family and also works. This way, the old woman has care 24/7 in the nursing home. It's not always easy for a working family to take in the old folks.
I repeat:
Because the daughter probably has a family and also works. This way, the old woman has care 24/7 in the nursing home. It's not always easy for a working family to take in the old folks.
The elderly lady and her so called daughter are pathetic. They care not one bit for the wishes of others.
Daughter Joan: if you are so upset, take her to your house and have her smoke all she wants!
Maybe the old woman fell and broke her hip, therefore, needing round the clock care.
Maybe she has a heart problem requiring round the clock monitoring. The "if's" are endless when it comes to the elderly.
It sure is. Not ALL non-smokers are demons from hell!
I'd say Gladys is rather sick.
And I don't want her bodily fluids/refuse on the floor of the nursing home either ...
Oh boy...nice attempt at a personal insult.
And now to refute your pathetic accusations:
1- Yes, I am a drug addict. I like to smoke. And the government allows me to. Why do you feel free to condemn me?
Please provide evidence where I condemn you [or smokers].
2- The entire world IS against me (you are a perfect case in point).. Even if I pay for my own health care, and yours, in the highly repressive taxes you have laid on me and my habit, you still feel free to condemn.
See refute to #1.
I don't know you, but I would bet that I could find 3 things I don't like about you. Would i criticize you? Not on your life. I would accept you the way you are. Would I try to make you live my life style. Again, not on your life.
That's fine. I could care less if you find 3 or 3,000 things you don't like about me. I'm not trying to tell smokers/drug addicts what kind of lifestyle to have, I'm merely citing the fact that smokers/drug addicts have to accept that there will be certain (increasingly many) establishments that DO NOT ALLOW any smoking. Therefore, back to your respect statement, instead of bitching and moaning about "oh, I can't smoke here", instead have a little respect for the property/business owner and the rules that they have set in place and smoke elsewhere. Is it really that hard?
It sounds like a convenient excuse for the daughter and mother to just bitch and whine while the daughter ignores her poor, old mother.
FYI, smoking is not part of health care.
Smoking doesn't cause oxygen fires, it's some jerk that got oil somewhere in the oxygen system, that's an instant fire!
Nah, it just gets them [smokers] all up in a tizzy.
I'm a big proponent of smoker's rights, but not where smoker's rights override business owner/private property owner rights.
I'm quite aware of what you're talking about.
I just shake my head Madame Dufarge!!!
"I'm a big proponent of smoker's rights, but not where smoker's rights override business owner/private property owner rights."
Where do you live that this happens?? Seems to most of us, it's they are either one in the same, or the opposite.
GREATpost battlegearboat ,... and btw , you forgot
... she'd have'tuh , walk[roll] a mile for a Camel , or...
... just get that bellhop to push her,for a Phillip Morris
And you ignorant azzholes just don't get it. And NO! We don't think the world is against us. We only encounter A-HOLES like YOU when we come in HERE!
she needs to light up in the nursing home and have the nursing home call the cops and have her arrested.Then her daughter needs to make sure al lthe local media is there when the police arrive
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