86-year-old man with Alzheimer’s walked out of Saskatoon care home without trace, dies days later

When Bailey Smith’s grandmother made the difficult decision to move her husband of nearly 60 years into a care home, she hoped he would eventually be safe.

Instead, just 36 hours after moving into the Preston Special Care Home in Saskatoon, William Cone, better known as Laurie, walked out of the facility completely unnoticed on October 11. He had Alzheimer’s.

“It was about 10:30 (CST) when I got the call from my grandmother,” Smith said in an interview. “There was a call from a concerned citizen who actually saw my grandfather fall and they called the ambulance.”

He said the care home staff were not aware he was gone and it was his grandmother who informed them.

Cone, 86, was wearing slippers and had walked about eight blocks with a walker when he fell and broke his hip. He underwent surgery at the Royal University Hospital on 13 October but declined rapidly thereafter. He died on 20 October.

The care home is operated by the Saskatchewan Health Authority, which has launched a formal review of the situation to determine what happened.

Smith said her grandmother, Elizabeth Cone, who was her husband’s sole caregiver for years, is heartbroken.

“She tried talking to the care home… she said she really felt like they were just blaming her – or blaming her for leaving,” Smith said.

“It was very avoidable,” she said. “I’m sad and I’m angry because this didn’t have to happen.”

Cone was admitted to the facility on October 9 for short-term care while waiting for a permanent placement. Smith said staff later told her grandmother that kitchen renovations were underway and a door near her room had been left open.

He said the only security measure at the facility was that all exit doors had PIN pads locked by security codes. But the door through which Cone was supposed to exit was left open without monitoring by staff, security cameras or alarms, he said.

Smith said Cone was a retired Canada Post employee, an active member of his church and was still sober most of the time.

“He loved the riders. He also curled and played slow pitches,” he said.

“He was very involved in the grandchildren’s lives. He was the kind of grandfather who showed up for everything and it didn’t matter how little, like he was in the audience for it.”

Call for investigation and change

Smith said the family wants an investigation into what happened and comprehensive reforms to prevent it from happening to others.

“It’s a widespread problem. I’ve spoken to other people who have family members with Alzheimer’s, they’re out of their care homes all the time. It’s not a one-off situation. It’s just a situation where someone died,” she said.

“We just want change,” he said.

“We want to have some place where it’s mandatory that cameras be installed and alarms be placed on patients and doors be locked because they won’t be able to get out,” Smith said.

“It’s really disappointing that the facility where these things should have been was not there.”

She said her grandmother has reached out to the provincial ombudsman and is considering talking to police, but has not received any written communication from the care home.

“The care homes, they’re pretty much ignoring my family, like they don’t really want to say much. I don’t think they want to admit anything,” Smith said.

Health authority response

In a statement, the SHA said it “expresses its deepest condolences to the family for their loss and has reached out directly to the family to extend an invitation to discuss any care concerns.”

The formal review will include “obtaining the family perspective, followed by analysis and disclosure to the family, including the facts and the steps taken or to be taken and considered to improve care delivery,” the health authority said.

Smith said her family hopes their decision to speak publicly will help ensure accountability and help other families ask questions before it is too late.

“These are our loved ones. We need to keep them safe. You know, they raised us and now it’s our turn. We need to take care of them.”