Yesterday, the bodies of two elderly ladies were found in their Gold Coast Unit. It appears that the mother and daughter had died some time previously. The mother 85 had died, earlier, and the daughter aged 65, had died some time after her mother. They were migrants from Yugoslavia, who had made very good in Australia, but lack of support, culture differences perhaps, no family etc had meant that their declining years were lonely, and to think that they had been dead for some time - right in the midst of the busy Gold Coast is hard to beleive.
This event hightlights some dilemmas that old people face. Especially those who have no one. We know that there are good support services for people such as these, but either they did not know about them, or they chose not to take advantage of them.
We acknowledge that people often make their own choices. Rightly or wrongly.
In any case we feel guilt about events such as these.
It appears that the ladies were quite reclusive and didn't even use any electricity, despite the fact that it was connected to the unit.
Each times such an event occurs there are promises by well meaning people to keep an eye on older neighbours, especially those alone - but it is hard to know what to do.
Read the story here.
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