Protecting Wandering Loved Ones This Winter
December 30, 2007 by Alicia Sparks, Mental Health Notes
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
One bitterly cold winter night, several years ago when I was younger, perhaps in high school, an elderly couple in my community got lost in a snow storm. It was after choir practice one Sunday night, and when the couple left the church, instead of walking a few feet down the sidewalk to their car, they walked several feet down the sidewalk, onto the road, and eventually about a quarter of a mile away from the church.
Fortunately, another church goer noticed that the elderly couple’s car was still parked empty outside the church and went looking for, and found, them before it was too late.
This memory has stuck with me for years, and I share it now in light of Mary Emma Allen’s Winter Weather Warnings for Alzheimer’s Wanderers. Mary recounts her own story, which is much closer to home, and points you in the direction of some helpful tips on how to prevent dangerous wanderings.
Alicia, I’m pleased you found my story of interest to mention here. I hope, from my relating this experience with Mother, that others will take heed and become even more aware of the dangers Alzheimer’s patients can face due to wandering. Also they can escape from you so quickly, even when you think you have all bases covered. Your story points out, too, that winter weather can be a hazzard for those other than people having Alzheimer’s.