92‑year-old's bold escape stirs debate over nursing home care

Nursing homes are typically associated with places where older adults receive appropriate medical, psychological, and rehabilitative care. Despite this, patients sometimes escape from these facilities. A Chinese grandmother, however, set a record for the most daring escapade.

Many seniors, especially those living on higher floors of apartment blocks or alone, decide to stay in a nursing home towards the end of their lives. This decision is sometimes influenced by the distance from their loved ones who aren't always able to help or the patient's health condition. At the facility, they are provided with prepared meals, medical care, rehabilitation, and activities that creatively engage their time. The problem arises when the disease progresses, replacing rational thinking with memories of the past. Such situations sometimes end with patients escaping despite the supervision of the staff employed at the facility.

In a video shared on the X platform, an elderly woman is seen climbing over a 1.8-metre fence and then descending to the other side, where freedom awaits her. The woman escaped from the nursing home in the city of Yantai, China. The staff of the facility was immediately notified of the matter.

The facility director immediately dispatched four cars and several employees to search for the runaway grandmother. Nurses identified the Chinese grandmother as their 92-year-old patient, only 1.6 metres tall. After 25 minutes from her escape, at approximately 7:30 AM EST, the woman was safely found unharmed in the vicinity of the center. The nurses escorted her back to the facility.

In an interview with "The Paper" newspaper, the director of the nursing home stated that their ward suffers from Alzheimer's. He added that the elderly woman used to work in orchards in the mountains when she was young and had strong climbing skills. The director assured that he would strengthen the care and supervision of the grandmother to avoid further escapades.

According to many, the grandmother's escape was desperate, indicating potential mistreatment at the nursing home. Few older people could scale a 1.8-metre fence to gain freedom. Internet users express concern over the situation and appeal for an investigation of the conditions at the facility from which the 92-year-old woman escaped.