Pennsylvania officials are investigating the death of a 44-year-old woman with multple sclerosis who was found dead amid deplorable conditions and severe neglect.
Elizabeth Fike was pronounced dead on Thursday morning, the Fayette County Coroner’s Offfice said in a statement.
“She was completely dependent on caregivers to take care of her at this particular time in her life and we saw, obviously, a person here in a very bad situation,” Coroner Bob Baker told KDKA.
Baker said Fike was found in a bed with extreme filth around it including a bedpan and old bath water. Despite that, he said, a new hospital bed, urinal, and wheelchair were at the home.
“All of it not used, untouched at that matter, and she’s laying in this filth,” he said.
Fike’s caretaker wrote on social media shortly after her death her MS medication had not been delivered, but they declined to answer questions when contacted by KDKA.
But the paid caretaker — Fike’s boyfriend, Tim Childs — told WATE he did the best he could.
“I have cerebral palsy, and I did the best of my ability to do what I needed to do for her,” he said. “When she had her meds, it was easy. I didn’t have a problem. She ran out of her meds, and it got tougher. I struggled.”
“We had the meds on order, but they hadn’t come in.”
Childs declined to talk about the conditions of the home.
Charges are pending while officials await autopsy results.
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[Featured image: KDKA screenshot]
