Marian Leonard died in a nursing home that she was forced into by a judge in early 2018. Last month, her court-appointed guardian Sidney Summey restricted her from having any visitors except a token hour and a half visit twice per month from her daughter – the woman that Mrs. Leonard had designated as her chosen power of attorney, not just once, but 3 different times over a 30 year period.
She died alone. No family or friends were permitted to be with her in her final weeks. The guardian had even taken her away from her roommate, whom Nancy viewed as her mother’s “guardian angel.”
Nancy, who has been fighting the court since custody of her mother was seized by the state, is devastated.
It’s like being in the middle of a horror story.
All her mother’s planning to ensure that she would live out her elderly years on her own terms vanished with the stroke of a judge’s pen, at the request of social workers from the Alabama Department of Human Resources (DHR) and St. Vincent’s Hospital. The simplest request, that her only daughter be with her at the end, was denied.
Nancy’s voice cracked as she cried:
I couldn’t save her. I tried so hard to get her out of there.
Marian Leonard was known to her former English students as “Mrs. Gregory.” Yearbook photo provided by family.
The admission sounded like something out of “Logan’s Run” or other dystopian sci-fi movie, not an explanation one would expect to hear from legal associates. Nancy Scott and others who joined her in a peaceful prayer vigil for her mother’s life on Tuesday, August 20, were stunned when representatives from the court-appointed guardian’s office explained that the reason that retired Alabama schoolteacher Marian Leonard was on hospice was because she was old.
According to Medicare.gov, hospice care is supposed to be for people who are certified by a hospice doctor and the patient’s regular doctor that they are terminally ill with a “life expectancy of 6 months or less.” Hospice care is palliative, or “comfort” care, rather than curative care, and it is supposed to be a choice that the patient makes, not a decision thrust upon them without their consent.
That is not what has happened with Marian Leonard. When the state seized guardianship of Mrs. Leonard in February 2018 at the request of St. Vincent’s Hospital and the Department of Human Resources (DHR), she was forced into a nursing home, Diversicare of Riverchase, and forced onto hospice care, against her will and that of her designated Power of Attorney, her daughter Nancy Scott. More
All that Nancy Scott has wanted was for her mother, retired Alabama schoolteacher Marian Leonard, to be able to live out her final years surrounded by the love and support of her family. Nancy never dreamed that such a simple wish could be thwarted by lawyers and judges and doctors. Now, it appears that time has run out for her to get her mother closer to her home in the Wiregrass area of southern Alabama.
A Hospice staff member called Nancy Scott Wednesday morning and told her that she needs to return to Birmingham as soon as possible, because the end is near.
A year and a half ago, retired Alabama schoolteacher Marian Leonard was taken from her family, placed under state guardianship, and forced onto Hospice, all against her will.
Marian Leonard assigned her daughter Power of Attorney, but all of her documents were set aside by probate judge Alan King. She is in solitary confinement, though she has committed no crime. See story: More
Betrayed by Hospice with host Marsha Joiner – July 24, 2019 #14 Guest Liz Isner Tells about what happened with her husband Alan who was only 58, during the days preceding his hastened death on September 19, 2015. Hear how they were both tricked into believing hospice was here to help and how quickly he was put into a coma against specific directions. Liz is also the founder of the facebook group Murdered by hospice that is growing daily.
The Hospice we once knew to be compassionate and caring and took care of loved ones in their last months or days of life is no longer that hospice in most cases. Unsuspecting people’s life are being shortened by hospice with opioids, antipsychotics drugs resulting in starvation and dehydration and leaving behind families who are in shock having witnessed their death and powerless to save them.
It is our intent to inform people about the potential dangers, terminology and red flags of the current hospice. Stealth Euthanasia is happening across the country as elderly and disabled are being targeted for early death and deemed unworthy of life. You have the right to question doctors decisions, refuse drugs, be a part of “the plan” and/or refuse hospice altogether. Never accept what you are being told without verifying.
Dial 917-388-4520 and if you have comments or questions select 1 on your phone and you will be put in a queue to speak.
If you have a story to share about a loved one taken before their time, contact me at marshajoiner2018@gmail.com . You will need verifiable data.
