Woman Finds Way To Visit Husband Despite Nursing Home Restrictions

Here’s a story to warm your heart, y’all!

Where there is a will, there is a way. This clever woman found a workaround when she couldn’t visit her husband due to the COVID-19 nursing home visitor restrictions.

The Blaze is reporting that Mary Daniel of Jacksonsville, Florida visited her husband, who has Alzheimer’s, every day prior to the pandemic. Because of the restrictions, Mary had to go 114 days without seeing her love until she found a way around the restrictions. Mary now works at the memory care facility.

Steve has early onset Alzheimer’s, and Mary became concerned about the toll that isolation was taking on his health since they couldn’t see one another. The couple have been married for 24 years.

“He’s been isolated,” Mary said. “So this has been really, really difficult for him. He’s lost 10 pounds over these last four months. I’ve really seen him sort of wither away.”

Looking for a solution, Mary asked the care facility if any volunteer positions were available. A few weeks later, the facility called and offered her a job as a dishwasher.

“I told them, ‘I’m gonna be the best dishwasher you’ve ever had, because I want to be here, because I need to be with him,'” she recalled to CNN.

In a Facebook post on Friday, Rosecastle at Deerwood welcomed Mary to the team.

“Mary has been a part of our Deerwood family since her husband, Steve, moved into our community. But we are proud to welcome her to our team,” executive director Kelley Withrow wrote.

“Visitor restrictions have been put in place at communities across our state as a safety measure, aimed at protecting the vulnerable population we serve,” Withrow added. “But it has been hard on families and residents alike, so we felt creative solutions were necessary, especially in the case of Mary and Steve. We are happy to report that Mary is off to a great start in her new role and we are excited to see the positive changes in Steve’s demeanor as well.”

People being left alone in nursing homes and alone to die in hospitals (whatever the cause) must stop. We must find another way. These rules are not humane or compassionate. If Mary can safely be around her husband as an employee, surely there is a way for her to safely be around him as a visiting wife.

Mary said, “We have separated these folks to save them, but we have separated them and it’s going to kill them. The isolation will absolutely kill them.”

Mary knows this firsthand and is taking action for change.

WFLA reported that Mary has also launched a Facebook group called “Caregivers for Compromise — because isolation kills too,” aimed at building a coalition of families to press Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to “allow safe visitation” at care facilities.

“We can’t give up,” Mary said. “We can’t, we just absolutely can’t. We have to fight for them until our last breath or their last breath. And I think we can be successful. I think when Gov. DeSantis, when he sees us and sees our stories, I think he’s a good man. I think he’ll do what he possibly can to help us and to help our family members.”

If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em! God Bless Mary and her hubby!

Watch this touching report from ABC News. This is true love.