10 hours ago
‘We thought he was gone when we found him': Father left for hours on the floor of mobility van
An elderly man was hospitalized after allegedly being left alone in a transit van for seven hours.
By all accounts, 81-year-old, Donald McKeen, had a great visit at his daughter's house last Wednesday.
The visits were routine, they've been happening for the nearly two years since McKeen has been staying at the Magnolia Continuing Care Community home.
This one was no different, he was dropped off by a mobility van at 1:00 p.m. with a scheduled return to the senior's residence booked for 3:00 p.m.
'The driver came and picked him up at 2:55 and at 10:30 that night we got a call from the Magnolia that said that he had gone with a family member and hadn't returned,' says McKeen's daughter, Kristen Giles.
But Giles' father had left hours ago, they knew something was wrong. Giles and her husband, Andrew, drove to the Magnolia Continuing Care Community about 20 minutes away. The couple used a flashlight to look in the darkened windows of the van. That's when Giles saw her father's empty wheelchair.
'Andrew smashed the window out of the van and we found a dad on the floor,' she said. 'We thought he was gone when we found him.'
'I found him and he was really, really weak and all he said was he left me here, he left me here.'
McKeen was rushed to hospital. The heat inside the locked vehicle combined with being stuck in a cramped space took a toll.
Donald McKeen
Donald McKeen in the hospital after being left on the floor of a mobility van for hours. (Source: Kristen Giles)
'When he tried to get out, he had fallen on the floor so one shoulder and his face were on the floor of the bus and one shoulder was pinned behind his back and there's a knuckle on the floor that the seat is attached to, and he had laid on that for so long it actually punctured his side.'
According to Giles and the RCMP, McKeen was the only passenger in the van. Giles isn't sure how her father was left behind or wasn't reported missing for several hours. She says her father has been at the home for close to two years.
'He would've missed evening pills, he would've missed supper, his bedtime tucked in. It was 10:38 when they called, I believe,' Giles said.
A statement from Nova Scotia's Department of Health and Wellness to CTV News said:
'We were made aware of this very upsetting and serious incident. We did not arrange the transportation service, we understand it was booked independently and took place separate from the long-term care facility.'
East Hants RCMP confirm an incident took place and are investigating.
Requests for an interview with the Magnolia Continuing Care Community were denied with the Director of Care saying they had no comment at this time.
As for Giles, she isn't sure where her father will stay once released from hospital.
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