Helena Munroe,PhD, MsED, OT

Core Issue Getting Lost

2007-11-07T05:40:00.000-08:00

It seems to me that the issue at the centre of the removal of Helena Munroe from her husband and home is sometimes lost in the details surrounding the event.

The core issue here is that persons with Alzheimer's Disease are apparently not protected under the law until such time that they are declared legally incompetent. The period of time that this covers can be years.

Helena Munroe is an extremely well-educated woman in a long-term marriage, who went to her lawyer to create an enduring power of attorney as a way of ensuring her future care. This was not enough to protect her from now being cared for in a nursing home a country away from her home and loved ones.

What happens to the people who are not in long term relationships, or are not so educated, or do not have a lawyer? Until policymakers, government, law enforcement and the general public become more educated about Alzheimer's, this will happen again.
I hope it's not me.
Or you.

Canadian Lawyer Magazine Article

2007-10-26T09:17:00.000-07:00

Do please click on the following link to Canadian Lawyer Magazine. It is an informative article by Judy Van Rhijn published in October 2007 which refers to Heli Munroe and points to the fact that elder care law needs reform. Thank you.

www.canadianlawyermag.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=197&Itemid

Latest news on Heli !

2007-07-03T07:15:00.000-07:00

The following is an excerpt from email (received from Carol July3/07 @ 10:30am) on the latest visit with Heli by husband, Sandy and his brother, Don:

When Don and Sandy arrived and introduced themselves by name, Heli added and you are from Canada.
Very touching, she spent the afternoon wearing Sandy's jacket, and she said, I am trying so hard, and indeed she is, what courage. Bless her.

Sandy, Carol and Don have been touched by your response to their encouraging news and have asked me to thank you all !!

Heli recognized Sandy !!!

2007-07-02T15:54:00.000-07:00

The following encouraging news of Heli is based on information I received from Carol on Monday, July 2/07:

On their very first contact in over nineteen months, Heli Munroe recognized Sandy, her husband of forty-two years. She conveyed this verbally and with non-verbal signs which were clearly understood by those in attendance.

Friend and alternate Power of Attorney, Carol Bowlby-Sifton, says via email from UK that the hospital is a "wonderful facility" and the administrators are "very empathetic".

Thank you to all of you who have been sending encouraging thoughts, words, and prayers. This positive energy has been invaluable to Heli's family and friends, and Heli herself.
Please keep doing so, as it can only help!

Outpouring of Concern for Heli and Why No Charges Laid

2007-06-29T04:47:00.000-07:00

There has been tremendous response from across the country to this story, both from those concerned about Sandy & Heli and those angry at the lack of will in Nova Scotia to protect, under the law, those with Alzheimer's.

Please continue to voice your concerns to our Justice Department and everyone else who you think should help. And it couldn't hurt to call or write to your media sources to let them know you want further questions answered in this case.

The following are comments written to the Globe & Mail in response to Heli's story:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070628.wwife28/CommentStory/National/#comments

garlick toast from mill village, Canada writes: helena moore was kidnapped.why doesn't peter mackay use his position as minister for foreign affairs to effect a return as she was taken using a phoney passport.
Posted 28/06/07 at 6:02 AM EDT Alert an Editor Link to Comment

Diane Schweik from EDMONTON, Canada writes: It's a shame that those who scream about Canadians in foreign jails have nothing to say re this tragic story.Apart from the criminal act of kidnapping,the care of the elderly in the UK is atrocious.
Posted 28/06/07 at 7:37 AM EDT Alert an Editor Link to Comment

Elwan Lobo-Pires from Mississauga, Canada writes: WOW! What a sad story. The RCMP in their wiadom have decided to interview the man who took his wife to Switzerland because she wanted to die, knowing full well that they have no jurisdiction over what happened there becaues euthanasia is legal in Switerland. We have a story here of a person who has been kidnapped and they sit on their hands. What a hypocritical nation we live in
Posted 28/06/07 at 10:16 AM EDT Alert an Editor Link to Comment

Robert P from Montreal, Canada writes: Where are all the marriage activists now? This is the most blatant attack on marriage possible. He is her husband, legally married, legally responsible for her care (if she dies with bills unpaid he could even be sued to pay them)True her brother is family but she had no choice in that. Her husband she chose and made a legal tie with. Marriage has to supersede all other relationships or it has lost all meaning.
Posted 28/06/07 at 10:52 AM EDT Alert an Editor Link to Comment

MJ Patchouli from Regina, Canada writes: This story makes me sad every time I hear more about it. I hope that Heli has a good day and recognizes her husband (and bear). Yes, Petey could do a good deed, and for people from his own province. Of course, he won't.
Posted 28/06/07 at 3:37 PM EDT Alert an Editor Link to Comment

Sherry Poole from Toronto, Canada writes: Canadian law enforcement agencies and governments have all the "cojones" of a KEN DOLL!I travel extensively for my work, so I am HIGHLY AWARE that Canadians overseas are ON THEIR OWN - COMPLETELY. I have had more support from American embassies overseas than I ever received from Canadian ones. In Eastern Europe right now, virtually every Canadian embassy is a local joke. There's a Budapest-based blogger who INFORMS hungarians of the AMOUNTS they should pay to Canadian embassy staff (and they even NAME them!) to facilitate their immigration. Naturally, the blog is in Hungarian, and Canada's embassy in Budapest has no Hungarian-speaking Canadians on staff. I wish I was kidding.Similar scenarios have been encountered in Russia, Poland, France and Italy (to my knowledge). Canadians embassies are so widely known to be corrupt that they are virtually a joke globally.That this POOR MAN was left hanging by his government and police while his wife was kidnapped is PAR FOR THE COURSE in ball-less Canada.In any Canadian politician or law enforcement professional was to ever discover that he had "balls", they'd likely found a bowling league.Generally speaking, and I really do hate to admit this, Canadians are embarrassingly gutless.
Posted 28/06/07 at 3:43 PM EDT Alert an Editor Link to Comment

Media Advisory

2007-06-26T16:50:00.000-07:00

The following is a Media Advisory from the office of Alexa McDonough, MP Halifax and NDP Foreign Affairs Critic. Those of you following this case know that Ms. McDonough has been working hard on this case with Mr. Munroe for a just resolution.

Media Advisory
June 26, 2007

SANDY MUNROE TRAVELS TO U.K. TO BE
WITH HIS WIFE HELI MUNROE

HALIFAX - ‘Sandy’ (Alasdair) Munroe, husband of Helena (Heli) Anna Munroe will travel to the United Kingdom later this week where he will be reunited with his wife, nineteen months after she was removed from their family home here in Nova Scotia. Diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2003, Mrs. Munroe is now receiving care in a health facility in the north of England. Despite this anguishing ordeal, Mr. Munroe looks forward to his upcoming visit and remains optimistic that it can lead to “What is best for Heli”.

In the press conference Mr. Munroe will be accompanied by geriatrician Dr. Daniel Carver, Heli Munroe’s physician, who will be prepared to address medical aspects of her case. Alexa McDonough, MP Halifax and NDP Foreign Affairs Critic, who recently visited Heli Munroe in the U.K., will speak about the public policy implications of her case.

Date: Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Time: 2:00 pm
Location: Camp Hill Veterans’ Memorial Building
The Centre for Health Care of the Elderly (CHCE)
Room 2655 – Second Floor
5955 Veteran’s Memorial Lane, Halifax, NS
(Corner of Robie Street & Jubilee Road)
- 30 -
For information, please contact:
Ms. Kelly Wilson, Assistant to Alexa McDonough, MP 902-426-8691
Ms. Johnann LeBlanc, Assistant to Dr. Ken Rockwood, M.D.902-473-8631

Heli Will Be Getting Visits

2007-06-23T02:03:00.000-07:00

Heli will soon be visited by her husband Sandy, who will arrive in London on June 30/07!!
Billingham Grange has agreed to facilitate visits.
Sandy will be travelling with his brother DM, and Heli's colleague and friend CBS.
My hope is that the UK government will work with Canadian High Commission in London to encourage the hospital to allow Heli to return home. She deserves to be cared for by her family in Nova Scotia as she wished, not in a nursing home in UK.

CBC Radio One - Shelagh Rogers on Sounds Like Canada

2007-06-13T12:11:00.000-07:00

Listen to latest interview of Sandy Munroe by Shelagh Rogers on CBC Radio One !!
Go to www.cbc.ca/soundslikecanada/interviews

After you listen, you will want to contact them!

Go to www.cbc.ca/soundslikecanada/contactus

See "Related Links" for others you may wish to contact.

I continue to send letters, as a reminder that I consider this to be much more than a tragic story. It is an injustice to one of our most vulnerable citizens. Nova Scotia Public Prosecution Service has put us on notice that they will NOT protect the rights of people with Alzheimer's to be cared for in the manner they predetermine.

We must put them on notice that this is unacceptable.

The Director of Nova Scotia Public Prosecutions Service (NSPPS) is:

Martin Herschorn, QC
1505 Barrington Street, Suite 1225 Maritime Centre, Hfx, NS B3J 3K5
Phone: 902-424-8734 Fax:902-424-0658

Email address for Mr.Herschorn, QC at NSPPS is: herschme@gov.ns.ca

I'm not sure how much more evidence was needed to prosecute immediately:

1. Heli had late-stage Alzheimer's Disease as verified by her doctor. (This medical opinion was dismissed by Justice Department Spokesperson Chris Hansen on CBC Information AM as "...just that, an opinion..." as opposed to evidence.)

2. Having extensive education/experience with dementia she gave Power of Attorney to the two people of her choosing.

3. Her husband of 42 years and Power of Attorney asked for help in regaining custody.

4. Her passport was in her saftey deposit box.

And how much more evidence is needed now:

5. Her brothers indicated to RCMP/NSPPS that she chose to visit; however, she was promptly installed in an institution.

6. Her Power of Attorney was "upheld" by NS Supreme Court Justice Glen McDougal in Dec/06.

7. The national RCMP program, the Safely Home Wandering Registry recognizes the uniqueness of Alzheimer's and requires no documentation (let alone the unobtainable and cumbersome guardianship documentation) to return a person with Alzheimer's home.

What more could Heli have done to protect herself? - Not a thing!
It's up to NSPPS now.

Related Canadian Case Law

2007-05-31T11:35:00.000-07:00

Regina v. Metcalfe (1983), 1983 CarswellBC 737, 10 C.C.C. (3d) 114 (B.C.C.A.)
The Court of Appeal held that persuading the victim of a kidnapping to accompany the kidnapper by fraud or trickery makes the offence a kidnapping just as much as if the kidnapper used physical force to take the victim with him or her.

Regina v. Johnson (1984), 1984 CarswellNS 345, 65 N.S.R. (2d) 54, 147 A.P (N.S.C.A.)
The Nova Scotia Court of Appeal held that using trickery to have the victim accompany the kidnapper is as much kidnapping as using physical force.In my view, those two cases are more than sufficient to show that the law in Canada is that a kidnapper who uses trickery is as much a kidnapper who uses physical force to make the victim come with him. The "cartoon" newspaper example might be the strange male who invites the little girl into his car to go to the candy store with him.

Concerned and Alarmed Doctor Speaks Out

2007-05-31T11:16:00.000-07:00

The following is a copy of letter written by Dr. Daniel Carver, MD, FRCPC reprinted with permission:

Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2007 6:49 PM
Subject: Helena Munroe
Dear Mr. MacKay,

As a doctor specialising in the care of older adults at the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax I am concerned and alarmed about the Helena Munroe situation. I have been closely involved in Mrs. Munroe's medical care since 2005 when I was asked to assess her in my professional capacity as a Geriatrician. The following medical information is released to you with the permission of her husband Sandy Munroe who has enduring power of attorney.

As you know, from press reports and documents forwarded to your office the facts are as follows: 1. Mrs. Munroe arranged for an enduring power of attorney for health care and finances, 2. Subsequently, she developed a serious progressive brain illness - Alzheimer disease, 3. Unfortunately, this illness significantly impaired her decision making to an extent that, in my opinion, she became incompetent for personal care, health and financial decisions, (this was also the opinion of other doctors involved in her care), 4. Her husband Sandy Munroe, was advised to enact the enduring power of attorney. 5. Later, without the knowledge or agreement of her husband, Mrs. Munroe was accompanied to the UK by her brother - who claims this was her decision. (In my opinion, Mrs. Munroe was not fit to consent to travel to the UK - she did not understand the risks or benefits of travel to the UK. Mrs. Munroe had told me, in my clinic, approximately 6 months before she went to the UK that she did not want to visit her family in the UK because of the stress involved.) 6. Mrs. Munroe is presently a resident of a private care facility in the UK (Billingham Grange) 7.This facility claims to be providing good care to Mrs. Munroe but refuses to consider her return to Canada despite the wishes of her enduring power of attorney. In my opinion, the staff at this institution demonstrate a paternalistic attitude. They also lack information about the situation and appear uninterested in more information. In my opinion, the care she is receiving at this institution is suboptimal as it does not involve family or friends. (A cardinal principle of caring for an individual with Alzheimer disease is involvement of family and a familiar environment - neither available to Mrs. Munroe presently.)

Despite much effort the NS crown will not prosecute this case, in part, because she was not declared incompetent by the courts prior to her move to the UK. (I understand that no one is truly "incompetent" until declared so by a judge -who often relies on medical opinion - but taking this step before the enduring power of attorney is "enacted" is rarely necessary and in almost all situations would be an unnecessary expensive step.) In my opinion, the NS crown appears to 1. lack understanding about the common illness dementia and how it affects judgement and 2. lacks initiative in pursuing this tragic situation.

In my opinion, the government of Canada must act to protect vulnerable older adults who lack adequate decision making capability. I strongly urge the government of Canada to work to return Mrs. Munroe to her husband in NS. I am upset and dismayed by the lack of government action to protect a vulnerable older adult.

Respectfully,

Daniel Carver, MD, FRCPC
Camp Hill Veteran's Memorial Building
QEIIHSC

One of Heli's many gifts to Society

2007-05-30T05:53:00.000-07:00

This letter is re-printed with permission:
CLARKE JOHNSON, Mahone Bay, written in October 2006
ST. JOHN AMBULANCE THERAPY DOG PROGRAM
SOUTH SHORE REGIONAL COORDINATOR

I have known this woman and what has been done to her is unconscionable. There is no way that she could have indicated that she wanted to go to England. About two years ago , her husband contacted me to see if she could become a St. John Ambulance therapy dog team. He thought it would be very good therapy for her also. She and her dog were wonderful candidates for the program and passed the evaluation. They lived in Lunenburg at the time, across the street from the hospital. Every week I would go to her place and we would walk to the hospital with her dog spike and visit the Vets Wing and the ALC unit. She is a gentle soul with a real skill for therapy dog work. Partly from her work experience and partly from her wonderful heart. I learned from her and use her as an example for our new teams. When we were leaving a residents room she would say "Thank you for your hospitality" This was what its about. This is indeed the residents home which they have allowed us to visit. Her dog was the cutest little jigger you could ask for . There is a photo I took of "Spike" and a resident which we have used on one of our brochures. Sandy, her husband thought that perhaps Heli could continue in the program for a year before she deteriorated to the point she could not continue. I enjoyed our visits together each weak and would visit in their home. Sandy was very caring and would help her get ready and make sure she had her SJA shirt and id badges on and a sweater if it was cool. He had labeled each cupboard door and drawer in the kitchen with their contents and notes posted everywhere for her. Any one familiar with Alz. will recognize this situation. They moved to the valley and I went up and arranged for her to continue her visits at Sandy's request in Windsor. I went up a second time to accompany her on her first visit there and the rec. coordinator accompanied us. They were thrilled to have her visit and to accommodate Heli's needs they continued to accompany her on each visit. The last time I seen Heli was when her husband was down to Lunenburg on business and asked if I could accompany her again. This time I noticed for the first time her sinking further into the morass of the disease. When a resident asked how old "Spike" was she turned to me and she was lost, she know longer could remember how old her beloved dog was.

I know very little about Alz but I have been reading books on the subject, and taking workshops whenever they come up at the facilities. My awareness is much more after knowing Heli and also visiting an Alz. wing every week with "Roxy". This has to be pure hell for Heli. Her home is here . What has been done to her is beyond barbaric. I have been following this through her husband Sandy and a family friend who is a leader in the field of Alzheimers and they have basicly been stymied by local attempts and the barrier of distance and nations.

Clarke

2007-05-29T08:19:00.000-07:00

The following is a letter re-printed with permission from Helena Munroe's doctor to NS Justice Minister, Murray Scott:

Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2006 2:02 PM
Subject: Helena Munroe

Dear Mr. Scott,

As a doctor specialising in the care of older adults at the QEIIHSC I am concerned and alarmed about the Helena Munroe situation. I have been involved in Mrs. Munroe's medical care since 2005. As you know, from press reports and documents forwarded to the crown prosecutors office; 1. Mrs. Munroe arranged for an enduring power of attorney for health care and finances, 2. she developed a progressive brain illness - Alzheimer disease, 3. subsequently, this illness significantly impaired her decision making to an extent that, in my opinion, she became incompetent for personal care, health and financial decisions, (this was also the opinion of other doctors involved in her care), 4. her husband Sandy Munroe, was advised to enact the enduring power of attorney. 5. Without the knowledge or agreement of her enduring power of attorney Mrs. Munroe was accompanied to the UK by her brother - who claims this was her decision.

I am upset to read that the crown will not prosecute this case, in part, because she was not declared incompetent by the courts prior to her move to the UK. ( I understand that no one is truly "incompetent" until declared so by a judge - who often relies on medical opinion - but taking this step before the enduring power of attorney is "enacted" is rarely necessary and an unnecessary expensive step.) (It would tie the courts down for years.)

In my opinion, there is more than enough evidence to have Mrs. Munroe declared incompetent now by a NS court with information available before she left the province. Could this be done and would it change the mind of the prosecutors office?

This province must act to protect vulnerable older adults who lack adequate decision making capability. In my opinion, Mrs. Munroe was not fit to consent to travel to the UK with her brother - in other words, she did not understand the risks or benefits of travel to the UK. (In fact, Mrs. Munroe told me, in my clinic, approximately 6 months before she went to the UK that she did not want to go to visit her family in the UK because of the stress involved.)

Will Nova Scotia act to protect vulnerable older adults?

Respectfully,

Daniel Carver, MD, FRCPC
Camp Hill Veteran's Memorial Building
QEIIHSC

2007-05-28T17:05:00.000-07:00

An exciting interview done by renowned journalist Michael Harris of CFRA 580 of Mary Ellen MacIntyre (Chronicle Herald Truro Bureau Chief) was done on May 24, 2007 and May 28, 2007.
Go to CFRA, CFRA 580, CFRA interviews, Michael Harris Live, scroll down to May 24, 2007 and prepare to be inspired to express your views on this subject.

Press Release Re: Helena Munroe PhD, MsED, OT

2007-05-28T10:37:00.000-07:00

From: Carol Bowlby Sifton BscOT (Reg NS), BA, ODH

As a close friend and professional colleague of Heli Munroe, as well as her alternate Power of Attorney, I find the disregard for her carefully prepared wishes to be cared for by her husband appalling.
As a clinical professional with over 20 years of internationally recognized expertise in dementia care, I find it horrifying that public officials in Nova Scotia have refused to support the right of Heli, and hence all Canadians, to make plans for their future care should they become incapacitated. It is in effect, open season on the frail and the vulnerable in Nova Scotia and in Canada.
I learned on May 15, 2007, that Heli is in a private hospital for persons with early onset dementia and challenging behavior, Billingham Grange, North Yorkshire, UK. On Friday, May 25, 2007 we learned from Mr. Olaf Richardson, Social Worker for North Yorkshire County Council, that " we (i.e. the North Yorkshire Health Authority) will do anything to prevent her being removed from the care she is receiving at Billingham Grange, because we believe she is receiving the best care and that means nursing and medical care which is paramount." (Notes of a conversation between Mr. Richardson and Mr.Don Munroe, Heli's brother-in-law")
As an experienced professional I find it ludicrous for Mr. Richardsonto say that Heli is receiving the best possible care. This dramatic claim may be even possibly true from a strictly physical perspective. However, her care at present is in fact the polar opposite of evidence-based quality best practices care for persons with dementia. Heli is currently warehoused in another country in a vacuum, completely separated from her life partner of more that 40 years, both without any of her precious memories and mementos of a lifetime and her husband who can help her to enliven her memories. And without her dog Spike who is so important to her. It is widely recognized in clinical practice and research that it is essential to surround persons with dementia with their story, their past, people who know them in order to enable the best quality of life., in order to care for the whole person. How is it even remotely possible to consider this is the best possible care for Heli, totally separated from almost everyone and everything she has known over her lifetime, suggesting that 4 weeks or so of clearly "technically defined" medical care can in any way substitute for more than 40 years of a committed caring relationship?
She was moved from another psychiatric facility to Billingham Grange approximately mid-April 2007. I fail to understand why she cannot now be moved to be re-united with her Canadian husband.
Violent alarm bells were sent off when I read the following statement by Mr.Richardson, "We do not allow any visitors to her facility to visit without supervision because there are instances when family members disrupt the programme of care for patients, perhaps without intending to." In all of my years of clinical practice, including in mental health facilities, I have never heard of not allowing private visits between spouses. This is shocking. What does this facility have to hide? The only place I know of that doesn't allow private visits is a prison. It is sounding more and more like Heli is being held captive by people pretending to be looking out for her well-being.
Furthermore, Billingham Grange is caring for Heli, a very frail person with multiple medical problems and many drug sensitivities, without benefit of her medical records from Canada (from 2000 - 2005). In hope of benefitting Heli during her enforced stay overseas, her husband provided contact information for her Canadian doctors to Marek Pospieszalski in November 2005. Again, extensive medical records were provided to both Marek and Michael Pospieszalski in January 2007. Billingham Grange had no knowledge of this medical information until a significant portion of it was sent on May 10, 2007, attached as evidence to the Power of Attorney.
Mr. Richardson describes Heli's care needs as follows: "Let me define challenging. "Challenging" means a person who has no cognitive ability and needs 24 hour intensive care. Helena has no capacity to communicate any of her needs. From that, she needs help with feeding, toiletry, dressing, and everything else concerned with her care."
This statement is profoundly disturbing and also strongly suggests that Heli is receiving far less than optimal care. I have worked with hundreds of persons with advanced dementia. I have never had occasion, nor could I imagine one unless the person is dead, where one could say that the person has no cognitive ability nor any ability to communicate his or her needs. Understanding how the person communicates his or her needs is based on knowing the person's history, their needs and habits of a lifetime and on a high level clinical expertise in non-verbal communication.
This high level of skill is very apparently and tragically not available to Heli at Billingham Grange.
Best practices in dementia care also recognize that "challenging behaviours" are an expression of unmet needs, the person's way of communicating their needs when all else fails.
The staff from the Canadian High Commission who visited Heli at Billingham Grange reported that she paced constantly and often cried to herself. Clearly Heli is communicating that she has many unmet needs. How very tragic, how heartbreaking, that the very high quality, person-centered care that Heli worked all of her life to assure for other people is not being made available to her when she is in most need. Heli presented many times on this topic, including a paper titled "Scaling the Pyramid: Applying Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs with Persons with Dementia" to the 1988 Atlantic Conference of Occupational Therapists. This work was later incorporated into her PhD thesis.
Heli required, and received, the level of care and assistance described by Mr. Richardson when she was taken from her home, but she wasn't distressed (e.g. constant pacing and frequently crying to herself) as she is now. In fact, she was very content, as long as Sandy was within her sight. Based on my own clinical expertise, I must ask, how much of this distress has to do with Sandy's absence, and indeed with possible reactions to medications, to which she was very sensitive.
This situation from beginning to end is a travesty, an abrogation of Heli's human rights. It is obvious that the UK authorities are not going to act to re-dress this situation and return Heli to the excellent care she was receiving from her husband.
Clearly, it is incumbent on Canadian authorities to act immediately to uphold the rights and needs of this vulnerable person, and assure all Canadians that our right to determine future care plans is respected. It has been 18 months since Heli, who was completely unable to understand the implications, was taken from her happy and loving home. Any further delay on the part of Canadian authorities to act on Heli's behalf will worsen her personal tragedy and our national disgrace.
Carol Bowlby Sifton
Clinical Dementia Care Specialist
Editor, Alzheimer's Care Quarterly
Please get in touch if you have any questions. 902-634-3259 or csifton@ns.sympatico.ca

How Dare They?

2007-05-28T10:12:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Munroe is now a resident of an English hospital in North Yorkshire where she has been living for some time, placed there by her brothers. Her husband, Sandy Munroe, has just recently learned of her whereabouts through help from the Canadian High Commission in London. He has not yet been allowed by the hospital to speak with her on the phone (he wants to sing her Happy Birthday). In an article in The Sunday Herald (herald.ca) it was reported by Mary Ellen MacIntyre " the English hospital where Heli Munroe is a patient say they will resist all attempts to return her to Canada ". Also, "Don Munroe (Sandy's brother) spoke by telephone Friday morning with social worker Olaf Richardson of Billingham Grange, an independent hospital in North Yorkshire, England." who said "Mr.Richardson told me they will do everything to prevent her from being moved because it is not in her best interest and they figured it would be profoundly damaging to her health." also, "They would allow Sandy to visit her" These words in quotation marks are taken from front page of Sunday Herald May27/07.

I cannot believe this hospital did not immediately return Mrs. Munroe to her husband's care & control as soon as they discovered she had been taken from him and denied his care and love. And that they do not consider his presence in her daily life to be of paramount importance to her well-being is simply irresponsible and uninformed.

Helena Munroe PhD, MsED, OT

2007-05-28T09:34:00.000-07:00

Canadian and British citizen, married M.A.(Sandy) Munroe, December 26, 1964. Renewal of vows, June 2004. Career Occupational Therapist, working and teaching at the university level in both Canada (Dalhousie) and Aberdeen, Scotland, specializing in dementia care. Retired back to Nova Scotia with her husband in October 2000. In 2001, being fully mentally compentent, gave an enduring Power of Attorney to her husband, and should he be unable to carry this out, alternately to her close personal friend and professional colleague, Carol Bowlby Sifton. May 2003 diagnosed by Dr.Roger McKelvie, Neurologist, with Alzheimer's disease. April 2005 found by Dr.Daniel Carver, Geriatrician, to be no longer competent and the Power of Attorney was enacted by her husband. October 2005 noted by Dr. Carver and family physician Dr.K. Plaxton to have progressed to the stage of dementia, to be receiving excellent care from her husband and to continue to wish not to have her family of origin involved in managing her care. November 22, 2005, Heli was visited for the first time ever in her Canadian home by her brother Marek Pospieszalski. On November 24, 2005 Marek told Heli's husband that he was taking her and her dog Spike, out to lunch, but instead put her on a plane to the UK via Boston. Heli's authentic UK and Canadian passports were in their safety deposit box (not lost/stolen). Except for one phone call (of which there is a transcript) on November 27, 2005 Marek has never let Sandy nor any of her Canadian friends, speak to her nor reveal her whereabouts. The RCMP were contacted immediately but on advice from the Public Prosecution Service of Nova Scotia, would not lay kidnapping charges, in spite of the fact that Heli was declared by her doctors to be incompetent and had long ago given an enduring Power of Attorney to her husband. In December 2006 the Power of Attorney given by Heli to Sandy and Carol was upheld by the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia. No action has been taken by the NS Public Prosecution Service.