Retired nurse arrested for taking her dementia-stricken mother out of a care home shares the full emotional fallout — and the new twist that's just as cruel
Clutching a bouquet of her 97-year-old mother’s favourite roses, something inside Ylenia Angeli cracked when she arrived with daughter Leandra for their last care home ‘window visit’ before the new lockdown. As Leandra broke down in tears at the pitiful sight of her grandmother, her mother, retired nurse Ylenia, 73, pressed up against the glass, distraught at just how confused her own mother Tina appeared. Despite suffering from dementia, Tina’s face normally lit up when she saw her family. This time, there was barely a flicker of recognition. Thin and frail, she seemed to be deteriorating. Desperate, Ylenia turned to a member of staff — a female admin worker on duty — pleading for her mother to be wheeled into the courtyard so they could talk to her properly. ‘She said: “No, it’s too cold.” So I replied: “How about you put a hat on her and a blanket?” ’ says Ylenia. ‘I could hear my daughter crying, emotions were running high so, when this woman told me, “Are you going to just stan