Three care home staff members have been fired after being filmed disgracefully berating a 68-year-old Air Force veteran who had fallen out of bed in the middle of the night.
The video was taken on April 11 in Richard Johnson’s room at Universal Healthcare in Raleigh, North Carolina, the day after his daughter installed a nanny cam after he complained to her about how he was being treated.
It shows three female staff members tell him: ‘Shame on you’ and joke about his age after he fell out of bed at 4.20am. It is not clear when exactly it was filmed.
Johnson, who was a civil engineer in the Air Force, was left lying on the floor for more than an hour before the first nurse came to check on him despite repeated calls for help.
His daughter admitted him to the home on March 29 after his stroke. On April 4, he complained to her about how he was being treated and she bought a $129 nanny cam to put in his room.
The video shows how Air Force veteran Richard Johnson, 68, was mistreated. He is pictured (left) recently and (right) as a Civil Engineer in the military
Shockingly, when she saw him on the ground she did not offer to help or even try to get him back into bed.
Instead, she asked: ‘What are you doing on the floor?’
Johnson pleaded back, ‘I need help!’ but she walked away from him.
When she returned with two colleagues, the abuse worsened as Johnson explained that he needed to go to the bathroom but had an accident while he waited for help.
They changed his clothes as he lay on the floor despite him complaining about being cold.
One said: ‘You were in the bed. You decided to go down on the floor. So don’t complain that it’s cold.’
Richard Johnson, 68, was left lying on the floor, calling out for help, for an hour before the first woman arrived. Rather than help him up, she asked him what he was doing
The women then called for two colleagues to help. They left him on the floor, standing over him, before changing his soiled clothes. Only afterwards did they left him up
One of the staff members suggested that he got out of bed on purpose and told him not to complain about being cold as they left him on the floor
Johnson is shown before falling out of the bed. The women then lifted him roughly back into bed
The same callous woman later blamed him for the stroke he suffered before the video was filmed.
‘You had to do something very wrong with your life. What did you do? Because you’re suffering so bad.
‘So you’ve done something wrong. Yes you did,’ she said.
After roughly tossing him back on the bed, the bullying continued.
‘How old are you?’ asked one of the employees.
‘One,’ the other replied with a snigger.
The most vocal of the three then continued to berate him, demanding: ‘How old are you!’
Johnson replied: ’68’. She replied with her most heartless remarks, spewing: ‘You’re supposed to be enjoying your retirement. Instead, look what you are doing. S***** yourself. Shame on you.’
Shockingly, one of the nurses blamed him for suffering a stroke saying he must have done ‘something’ to deserve it
The same nurse then told him ‘shame on you’ for soiling himself. He returned the comment
The footage was taken at Universal Healthcare in Raleigh, North Carolina. It said the three staff members had been fired
They then grabbed the pillow out from behind his head and the same woman repeated: ‘Shame on you’.
To that, he fought back: ‘Shame on you!’
Johnson’s daughter, Rebecca Knapton, wanted the video to be made public to expose the care home employees.
She told DailyMail.com on Thursday that she was trying to find him a new facility.
Johnson’s daughter Rebecca Knapton, shared the footage
After serving as a civil engineer in the Air Force, Knapton’s father joined the Patriotic Guard Riders, a non-profit organization of motorcyclists who attend the funerals of fallen servicemen and women across the country.
Her father’s insurance covers the cost of his care.
Otherwise, it would be around $5,000 a month, she said.
Knapton said she was unsure if her father was exaggerating when he warned her of the abuse and wanted to see it for herself.
She thought he may have just wanted to get out of the home.
‘By the 4th dad had made several comments of abuse.
‘Not knowing if it was true, thinking he was just telling me these stories to bring him home. I wanted to know for sure.
‘So I started researching Nanny Cam. And bought one. I ordered it on the 4th. It arrived on the 8th, spent 2 days playing with it trying to learn it.
‘Then installed it,’ she said.
Choice Health Management Services, which owns the home, said all of the members of staff in the video had been fired.
‘As soon as the facility became aware of the family’s allegations, an investigation was initiated. We understand the family’s concern and regret that this occurred.
‘The staff involved were terminated for their inappropriate conduct. The remaining staff received additional in-service training,’ they told WRAL.
The three caregivers have not been identified.