Wandering Nursing Home Resident Left to Die in Cold

Ralph Ford, 73, lived at St. Francis Nursing Center. He suffered from cognitive impairment and had a tendency to wander.

On one night, he left the nursing home unnoticed in his wheelchair. He was found early the next day in a Dumpster several blocks away; his limbs were frozen solid. He unfortunately died shortly thereafter. He was survived by two siblings.

Ford’s estate sued the nursing home alleging it negligently allowed him to leave the nursing home through an unlocked, broken and unarmed door and then delayed initiating a search for him for five hours after discovering that he was missing from his room.

The defendant nursing home maintained that Ford was not known to wander. Before trial, the case was settled for $875,000.

The attorneys successfully handling this unfortunate case were Stanley J. Feldman, Mark J. Bernstein and Stefanie Fryer.

In preparation of this case, the Ford attorneys engaged experts in pathology. The defendant nursing home engaged experts in internal medicine and pathology.

Parker v. St. Francis Nursing Center, No. 2016-001144-NI (Mich. Cir. Ct. Wayne County).

Kreisman Law Offices has been successfully handling nursing  home abuse lawsuits, nursing home negligence cases and wrongful death cases for individuals, families and loved ones who have been injured, harmed or killed by the carelessness or negligence of a medical provider for more than 40 years in and around Chicago, Cook County and its surrounding areas, including Lisle, Winnetka, Western Springs, Elmhurst, Arlington Heights, Schiller Park, Bensenville, Bolingbrook, Romeoville, Joliet, Geneva, Chicago (Rogers Park, Englewood, Austin, Gresham, Back of the Yards, Little Italy, West Loop, South Loop, Chinatown), New Lenox, Highwood, Olympia Fields and Des Plaines, Ill.

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