Death goes unnoticed in old-age home
WHEN Krish Nagasar’s telephone calls to his sister, who lived in a home run by The Association for the Aged (Tafta), went unanswered for five days, he knew something was amiss.
On Monday, he went to the home to check on her but instead found workers from a funeral parlour loading Maya Devi Nagasar’s decomposed body into a mortuary van. He is now demanding answers from Tafta.
Maya, 71, a spinster, had been living at Ray Hulett House in Acutt Street, Durban for eight years and was in the process of relocating to a new home in Langeler Towers in Prince Street.
“She was an independent person who preferred to stay on her own. She had moved half of her belongings to the new building and was in the process of taking the rest of her stuff,” said Nagasar.
“I tried to visit her as often as I could. We spoke to each other on a weekly basis.”
He said if he did not call her, she would call him, and when she did not return any of his calls from last Tuesday he became worried.
“At first I thought she was busy with the move, but by Sunday I felt something was just not right.
“I went to the home on Monday around 2pm with my daughter. The first thing that caught my eye was the mortuary van.”
Nagasar said when they got to the building one of the workers told them she had died.
“My daughter told me to wait at the car and she went up to my sister’s rooms. The entire floor was cordoned off and she could not enter the room because the smell of my sister’s decomposing body was extremely strong.
“She came back to us and we watched as the funeral parlour workers placed her body into the mortuary van.”
He said the body appeared puffed up.
“We are in shock. Places like Tafta are supposed to be a haven for the elderly. She collects a disability grant and it costs her about R700 to stay at the home.
“Every night someone is supposed to check on residents. How could this happen? How did she go unaccounted for?”
Nagasar said the home had known Maya had to be monitored because on two occasions she had fallen into a coma because of low blood sugar. “We are completely shattered.” Tafta’s chief operating officer, Femada Shamam, confirmed Maya’s death and said an investigation was underway.
“We all knew her as Aunty Maya and we are saddened by her death. She was one of our residents who lived independently and came and went as she pleased. A resident had confirmed that he had seen her on Saturday.”
Shamam said the organisation had floor monitors in place to check on residents as well as a “red disk” monitoring system.
She explained when a resident goes to bed they hang a red disk on the door. The next morning when a floor manager is doing his or her rounds, if a disk is still on the door they go in to check on residents.
“Aunty Maya was one of about 250 residents from the Ray Hulett House to be moved to Langeler Towers.
“The reason for the move was to give residents a better and safer environment to live in and to allow for Ray Hulett House to undergo renovations.”
Shamam said residents had until the end of the month to move their belongings to the new premises.