Senior pictured behind window of long-term care centre near death
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Her separation served to unite many.
On Tuesday, Patricia Crump — the 86-year-old long-term care resident featured in a heartbreaking image captured by veteran photographer Veronica Henri and presented on the front page of the Toronto Sun late last month — was no longer able to lean up against the pane of glass that separated her from her visiting family members at Orchard Villa Long-Term Care Home in Pickering.
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Instead, her death appeared imminent.
According to her daughters, Crump tested positive for COVID-19 a week ago this past Sunday and her health had been steadily declining ever since.
Crump, who, through that earlier image became symbolic of the helplessness surrounding the GTA’s most vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic, was bedridden as her family prepared to say what they expected would be their final goodbyes.
Family members exchanged virtual hugs earlier in the day and visited, once again, separated by a pane of glass.
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A curtain was to come down at 8 p.m., signaling the end of the visit.
“The picture … that was our reality. And now this is our reality. Our mother is going to pass today,” said Diane Colangelo, one of Crump’s six children. “I mean, we put her in here to keep her safe, and to now be going through this, it’s just devastating.”
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The powerful photo, published in the April 23 print edition of the Sun at perhaps the height of the pandemic’s relentless attack on the elderly, served to illustrate the struggle for hope from residents inside long-term care facilities across the country, as well as the family members who were suffering, and continued to suffer similar despair from being unable to support their loved ones up close.
Orchard Villa has been among the hardest-hit facilities in Ontario – 60 deaths had been reported there as of Tuesday. The Sun photo even captured the attention of Premier Doug Ford, who used it to remind citizens of the very human aspect attached to this ruthless pandemic.
“I had a conversation with her about it,” Crump’s daughter, Lisa, said. “I told her she was famous – representing all of the elderly in homes. And she did say, ‘I can’t believe I’m famous. I’m not sure if she understood or not, but we tried as best we could.’”
Added Lisa: “She helped the elderly, I hope. A picture says a thousand words, and that’s more than a thousand words.
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