More than three years after a World War II veteran died while in the care of an Atlanta medical home, shocking video footage reveals the callous manner in which he was treated by the very nurses who were supposed to ensure his well-being.
The hidden video, originally captured back in 2014, was only released after attorneys of the Northeast Atlanta Health and Rehabilitation Center, the medical home where the incident took place, failed to stop a local media outlet from airing it, something it had been trying for nearly two years. The hidden video, embedded below, shows the 89-year-old James Dempsey repeatedly crying for help and the on-duty nurses paying no heed to him. According to Fox News , Mr. Dempsey pleaded with the nurses for more than an hour before he fell unconscious and eventually passed away. At one point in the video, the group of nurses can be heard laughing as they try to start an oxygen machine.
The video footage was captured by a hidden camera kept inside Mr. Dempsey’s room by his family members. According to WXIA-TV , in the full version of the video, Mr. Dempsey can be heard pleading for assistance for nearly an hour, after which he becomes unresponsive. Emergency services were called in only after the nursing staff realized that his condition was serious. The video footage also shows there were no attempts made at CPR, a procedure that could have potentially saved the WWII veteran’s life.
Warning: Potentially disturbing video ahead
One of the nurses seen in the video was nursing supervisor Wanda Nuckles who had initially claimed in a deposition that she had “rushed to his room” when she heard that the veteran had stopped breathing and kept on administering CPR until the paramedics arrived. The deposition was, however, made before she was aware of the existence of the video. In a subsequent deposition, Ms. Nuckles claimed that she had made “an honest mistake.” She was also asked why the group of nurses were chuckling when Mr. Dempsey lay unresponsive to which she said she did not remember.
Hidden camera tells true story of how veteran died after calling for help, gasping for air https://t.co/uT2VB0Ihqb pic.twitter.com/OSrjFRyZ3N
— 10 Tampa Bay (@10TampaBay) November 14, 2017
Following Mr. Dempsey’s death, his family sued the Northeast Atlanta Health and Rehabilitation Center. The family did not comment on the video and revealed that they would not be able to comment on it as they have a pending settlement with the nursing home. Meanwhile, the nursing home tried its best to stop the local media news outlet WXIA-TV from getting the video. However, a local county judge ruled to unseal the footage.
While the nursing home was aware of the video footage since 2015, they did not terminate the nurses until 10 months later. All the other nurses who were filmed in the video only surrendered their licenses in September 2017, more than three years after the incident happened.
[Featured Image by Maxlkt /Pixabay]
