The moment when an elderly Canadian couple tearfully said goodbye to each other as they are forced to stay apart has captivated the Internet’s imagination after their picture was posted online. Wolfram Gottschalk, 83, and his wife Anita, 81, have to live in two different care homes after 62 years of marriage owing to lack of space at the same old age home.
Facebook post by Ashley Kaila B:
Friends please read! This is The saddest photo I have ever taken. This is my Omi and my Opi. As you can see they are both wiping away tears! But why? It was taken in Surrey at Yale road, a transitional facility for people waiting to get into nursing homes, that’s where my Opi is! After 62 years together in marriage they have been separated for 8 months due to backlogs and delays by our health care system, whom have the power to have my grandpa moved to the same care facility as my grandmother. They cry every time they see each other, and it is heartbreaking. To make it worse, TODAY he was diagnosed with Lymphoma. Besides that limiting his time and making this more urgent, His Dementia is growing ever stronger each day, but his memory of my grandmother has not faded a inch…yet. We are afraid however that if they are living apart much longer, his memory of her won’t stay. This has been a strain on our family, making the 30 minute commute to bring her to see him, every second day, so he does not forget her. Now with the news of cancer, our fight to have them in the same facility is even more urgent. He isn’t even getting proper care where he is, including no physical therapy which we were promised (the only reason he is in a wheelchair is because it has been 8 months of no walking!!) They deserve this! Financially, physically and emotionally exhausted, me and my family are begging for your help my friends. We have contacted our local MLA, called Fraser Health and done in person inquiries, but none of our questions and concerns have been answered. We want justice for my grandparents who after 62 years together deserve to spend their last moments in the same building. Please share this and tag anyone that needs to see this post to get the help we need! @fraserhealthauthority
Wolfram, from Surrey, British Columbia, was admitted in an assisted living home in January because of dementia health complications which made it impossible for Anita to take care of him. Four months later, Anita ended up in a different facility in spite of their family’s efforts to keep them together. As the facilities are half an hour apart, family members have been driving Anita to see Wolfram multiple times a week. The distraught couple were clicked by their granddaughter Ashley Bartyik who says that this was “the saddest photo I have ever taken.”
Unfortunately, Wolfram was diagnosed with lymphoma on August 23 which has made the family all the more desperate to keep the couple together in their remaining days. Ashley is hopeful that their now-viral photo will help in drawing attention to the couple’s plight.
Courtesy: DC
