Loneliness in the elderly

this is a photo of an elderly gentleman wearing his medals with pride

 

Meet Len, one of my home-help gentlemen.

Len is lucky at 89 to have been fit and well enough to represent his few surviving comrades at the his local Tribute celebrating the D-Day landings 70 years ago. Len was a young lad at this time not even 18, and his unit had been responsible for the assembling of the American glider crews. 500 gliders were towed across the Channel carrying crews of up to 30 men along with geeps and field guns to be dropped into the fields of Normandy.

On Sunday June 8th, 2014 Len was treated like the hero he is.

A widow after 50 happy years of wedded bliss he is living with skin cancer, leukemia and other medical conditions yet he rarely moans. There is just one thing, like many elderly people living alone he is desperately lonely. That Sunday Len had total strangers shake him by the hand, one young lady even planted a kiss on his cheek, he was made to feel really special and valued.

The next day he was still buzzing and it was lovely to see and hear. Now other people are saying hello to him and people who travelled to France to be part of the celebrations want to listen to his story.

Long may it last I say, loneliness in the elderly has been proved to be as dangerous to health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

Caron

Award-winning blogger and former care columnist for Devon Life magazine. I am passionate about helping elderly people and people with dementia live purposeful and independent lives.
Designer of the Dementia Assistance Card and Points Of Light award recipient, Caron hopes to help carers when resources are limited and demand is ever-increasing. I am here to support you.

2 Comments

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