An elderly Penticton couple, married for more than 60 years, is speaking out after being placed in separate medical facilities by Interior Health.
Ken McKay and his wife Dusty were split up six months ago when she needed 24-hour medical care. But now her husband worries he won’t be there for her in her final moments.
“I know she’s fading away,” says Ken, 93, breaking down into tears as he thinks about his wife passing away without him. “Her hands are gone. She can’t do a thing. Can’t feed herself, can’t brush her teeth.”
Ken makes a daily journey on foot to Dusty’s bedside at an extended care facility in Penticton, hoping to spend as much time as he can with her.
“62 years and I get to see her once a day for an hour,” he laments about his weak and bed ridden life-mate.
Dusty has made it clear to Interior Health she wants to be with her husband.
“I want them to smarten up,” says Dusty.
While Interior Health provided them with living options that included keeping them together, that option involved a wait, which the McKay’s say isn’t a choice because of Dusty’s delicate condition.
Interior Health spokesperson Susan Brown says they are still trying to work with the McKay’s to keep them together, but Dusty’s level of care has dictated their predicament.
The McKay’s are tired of hearing about a wait when time is working against them.
“We just want to leave this earth as quietly as we entered it.”
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