84-Year-Old Hope Shepherd Beaten By Nursing Home Caregiver: Wait Until You Hear The Excuse [Video]

Hope Shepherd, an 84-year-old resident at the Berea Gardens Retirement Foundation Lily Kirchmann nursing home in East London, was beaten on video by her caregiver.

The much-larger Ncendiswa Mkencele was tasked with keeping Shepherd in her bed. The frail older woman had a reputation for being somewhat combative, according to a report from MSN, but most people agree that what happened on the surveillance footage went too far.

You can watch the video below, but a word of warning: it’s pretty disturbing stuff, especially if you have had a loved one in a nursing home now or at any point in the past.

https://youtu.be/WGlMJUzsYlU

If you’re wondering what happened with this after the video went viral, the MSN report confirms that Mkencele was fired over the assault, but she did share her reasons for what she did.

According to Mkencele, Hope Shepherd pushed her too far by throwing feces in her face and directing racial slurs against her. The video above doesn’t come with any indication this is what happened, though Shepherd does appear to be combative throughout.

Nevertheless, when you’re two to three times the size of the woman, many years her junior, and a lot stronger, excuses like these don’t tend to fly. Just ask some of the Facebook commenters.

“What a hateful person,” said Mary Brown. “I worked in a nursing home when I was young and these elderly people can be very trying at times but to abuse someone unable to help themselves is totally unacceptable.”

“Caregiver?!” wrote Kathy Cummings. “I beg to differ. No coping skills, no compassion or intelligence seen here. You take a job in a nursing home you will be dealing with dementia and other disabilities. This is how you behave? If that were my grandmother she’d be facing criminal charges.”

“That b***h would need to be in the witness protection program if that was my mom,” added Teresa Ann Blanchard.

“All I can say,” concluded Christine Cormany Barnes, “is [if that was] one of my family members [that] woman would be in the hospital and I’d gladly go to jail. You don’t hurt the elderly! This is why so many people oppose institutional settings. The abuse is rampant, and there is no oversight!!!!”

Jail time is still a possibility for Mkencele, as authorities have said that the investigation is ongoing. What do you think, readers? What would you do with healthcare workers who abuse people like Hope Shepherd? Sound off in the comments section.

[Image via screen grab from above video]