On Monday night, 27-year-old Walnut Grove resident Zak Wain headed to Save-On Foods at around 10 p.m. and noticed an elderly lady with a walker at the intersection of 208th Street and 87th Avenue.
“I thought it was strange that an elderly person would be out like she was at that time of night,” Wain recalled, stopping his car and putting on his four-way flashers to see if she needed help crossing the street.
Wain said the woman seemed lost and was hesitant to ask for assistance.
“I offered to call her husband for her, but she couldn’t remember the phone number,” he explained.
When the senior responded that she was trying to get to school, Wain knew he was dealing with a person who had dementia.
“I offered to give her a ride home and we drove around trying to find her place, but the woman said that nothing looked familiar,” Wain said.
He eventually asked if she was carrying a license and proceeded to show her his to try and jog her memory.
“She pulled out this jewellery box from her purse that had her name written on it,” Wain said. “I recognized the name from my own complex and asked her if we could try something.”
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Wain drove the woman to his apartment complex nearby to see if she recognized the place. The RCMP, her husband, and various neighbours were outside in a panic when they arrived.
“I told them right away that I had found her,” Wain said, admitting that he was shaken after the ordeal. “I’ll tell you the truth, one peice of me at first said ‘keep going, it’s fine.’ The other piece of me said ‘no, just go and at least say hello’.”
Wain’s family reached out to the Langley Advance Times to share that the woman is safe at home because of their son’s actions.
“The minimum amount of effort is just saying hi,” Wain later said. “You can tell a lot from just doing that, and from there, you can call a family member or the police to come help.”
People can find resources on caring for a loved one with dementia at https://www.fraserhealth.ca.
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Email: ryan.uytdewilligen@langleyadvancetimes.com
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