WARNING: Some readers may find the details of this story graphic.
DORVAL, Que. -- Nurse Loredana Mule arrived at the Maison Herron long-term care home in Quebec during coronavirus pandemic鈥檚 first wave to find a facility in crisis.
Many staff members had walked off the job, leaving the residents largely abandoned and many confined to their beds.
Mule, alongside one other volunteer, tended to more than 40 residents. What she saw still haunts her.
鈥淲e just looked at each other, we had no words,鈥� she told W5 in an interview. 鈥淲hat kicked in was we have to act fast. Every one of them needed the complete bed changed. They had no water. Whatever anybody had, we used to get them completely clean and comfortable.鈥�
Horrified, she did what she could.
鈥淚t was just a very grim sight. As we approached the bed, we removed the covers and the sheets. [The patients] had been sitting in urine and feces for about four to five days.鈥�
In her interview with W5鈥檚 Sandie Rinaldo, Mule emotionally recalled the last patient she cared for that day 鈥� 89-year-old John Whitehead.
鈥淗e was six feet tall. He had sunken eyes, crust all over his mouth. Crust on his nose. And he was so emaciated. He couldn鈥檛 move, but he was such a gentleman. And he said, 鈥業鈥檓 hungry.鈥欌��
W5 told Whitehead鈥檚 wife, Roxanne, and his son Darrell, what Mule found and the condition he was in after days of neglect. Darrell reacted with both shock and sadness. He remembers his father, a former dentist, as a strong and caring man.
鈥淚t takes a lot to process that. And imagine that you've put someone into a home where they're supposed to be cared for and be safe鈥� I wouldn't let any of my family ever go back to a long-term care home.鈥�
About two weeks after Mule cared for Whitehead, he died of COVID-19 without any family by his side.
He was just one of who lost their lives to the disease at Maison Herron.
Premier Francois Legault鈥檚 government accused the care home鈥檚 owners, Groupe Katasa, of withholding critical information about resident deaths.
鈥淨uite honestly, I think there was gross negligence at Residence Herron,鈥� Legault said at a news conference on April 11.
Amid the crisis and the death toll, the province took over operation of the home.
Groupe Katasa has denied the premier鈥檚 allegations, saying they had reached out for help and the death count at Herron took over on March 29.
The deaths at the long-term care home have sparked a criminal investigation by Montreal police, a Quebec coroner鈥檚 inquest and a probe by the provincial health ministry.
Almost 7,000 seniors have died in retirement and long-term care homes across Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic. Of those, occurred in Quebec facilities.
Mule鈥檚 horrific memories of her time in Maison Herron have fueled her desire to improve conditions in long-term care homes.
鈥淲e're going to be there one day. And I want to make that change. For them today and tomorrow for us.
Darrell hopes that speaking out will be meaningful.
鈥淛ust because you lived your life well, you were young, vibrant, and then when you get older, all they see is an older person and think that that person was always old. But no, it's not the case.
鈥淭hat person was young and lived and enjoyed life. And just because you are a certain number, doesn鈥檛 mean that you should not be respected.鈥�
