Dementia patient seen in pain as 'hateful' caregiver faces charges
An elderly Georgia dementia patient hit the floor in agonizing pain as he was belittled by a 'hateful' female care home worker who is now in custody over her alleged abuse.Ann Cowan, 63, was captured taking a close-up video of an 83-year-old man as he fell off his chair and struck his head at the Corinth Road Personal Care Home in Newnan, about 40 miles south of Atlanta.The footage was posted by the patient's daughter, Danielle Slappey, whose legally blind dad with dementia-related care 'needed somewhere where somebody could really watch him,' she told the Newnan Times-Herald.In the video, Cowan could be heard asking the man if he was about to 'slide off' his chair, as his body teetered close to the edge. Pictured: Ann CowanAlleged abuse video at care homeAs he falls off and bangs the side of his head off a nearby bed, Cowan gets closer to capture the moment.'I just needed this video so your nurse know what's going on,' she said. 'Thank you love.'The elderly patient writhed in pain on the floor as Cowan filmed but failed to offer him assistance.Cowan was arrested last Friday and charged with two counts of exploitation and intimidation of disabled adults, elder persons and residents related to incidents at the care home.Slappey said she had cared for her dad for seven years before he was admitted into the care home on April 25.The facility quickly put him into a wheelchair after staff became concerned that he was a fall risk. Slappey claimed that her dad was either forced to use the wheelchair or restrained in a geriatric chair, even though he could use a walker or even hold onto someone's arm.'They have taken his ability to be mobile away,' she wrote on Facebook on May 26.Slappey claimed her dad was rushed to the hospital after being found unresponsive less than one week after his admission into the home.From that point on, Slappey said it seemed he was in a rapid physical decline.She alleged she was sent photographs of her dad's bloodied hands and bruises, and that it gradually became harder to reach him at the facility.Cowan is believed to have been a co-owner of the care home, according to Coweta County authorities.She was no longer employed there as of Tuesday, facility employees told the Newnan Times-Herald.On May 26, Slappey wrote on Facebook that she could not 'stress enough my level of disgust' for the care home, adding that she had removed her dad from the facility that day.'The owner is completely negligent,' she said. 'Please, [p]lease do not send anyone you know to this place!!' Claims of prior complaints against caregiverSlappey added: 'It is awful. It deserves less than a zero score.'The distraught daughter admitted that she initially did not want to believe her dad when he told her how 'mean' Cowan was.Slappey also claimed she had 'found out from multiple people' that Cowan had already been repeatedly reported, seemingly without suffering any consequences.'This HAS to stop y'all!!! She HAS to be stopped from operating!!!' she wrote.A former coworker of Cowan's, Brittney McPhail, alleged she had previously seen Cowan attack a man in his 80s with dementia.'He went to reach for her chest, and I'm not saying what he did wasn't wrong, but she grabbed his wrist and bent it back and threatened to "break his effing wrist" if he ever tried to touch her again,' McPhail told WSB-TV.'I knew that she was hateful, but I never realized she was that hateful,' she added.Cowan's alleged elder abuse was reported to the Coweta County Sheriff's Office one day after Slappey's initial post. Pictured: Brittney McPhail.Authorities reviewed several reports of Cowan's alleged abuse before charging her, including photographs that showed medication being placed in a location that couldn't be accessed by a patient in a wheelchair.On Tuesday, Slappey expressed her joy at Cowan being charged.'Thanking the Good Lord!!!' she posted on Facebook.She has also filed complaints with Georgia's Adult Protective Services (APS) regarding Cowan's alleged abuse.Cowan remains in custody at the Coweta County Jail on a $10,300 bond, according to WSB-TV.Meanwhile, Slappey's dad has since been moved to a different facility in Columbus 'to receive the best care possible.'She said he was no longer wheelchair-bound and starting to move around relatively better.The Daily Mail reached out to the Corinth Road Personal Care Home, Danielle Slappey, the Coweta County Sheriff's Office and Georgia APS for comment.Share your thoughts with us in the comments
