A DEVASTATED Luton pensioner fears that a Town Hall decision to close the town’s remaining two council-run care homes and move residents elsewhere will kill his wife of 66 years.
Luton Borough Council’s executive committee finally agreed to close The Laurels, in Ely Way, and the Westlea care home, in Leagrave High Street, at a meeting on Monday night following a lengthy consultation period and much opposition from residents and their families.
And 91-year-old John Charlish, whose wife Joan Vera, 92, is a dementia sufferer living at The Laurels, says that any attempt to move his frail wife will almost certainly see her die.
Mr Charlish told the Luton News: “It’s disgusting. We’ve all said this is the best place that anyone with dementia can be in. The staff are so good, they do so much to look after all the residents in there.
“There’s no place like The Laurels and now they are going to close it.
“My wife is now towards the very end of her life and all this is happening to her,” he said.
“When people are moved like this, they don’t tend to live very long. They wake up in a strange place, with strange people and different surroundings, they don’t know where they are.
“If they’ve got dementia they are lost and have nothing to live for and pass away. If I let them move my wife they are just going to shorten her life.
“No one knows for sure, but obviously she’s so weak. It’s been a difficult five years and now this.”
> For the full story pick up a copy of the Luton News out today.