Aged care system tear apart couple after 68 years of marriage

A Perth couple, both in their late 80s, have been separated by the aged care system after 68 years of marriage — leaving them “inconsolable”, their family has revealed.

In a Nine News exclusive, great grandparents Alf and Hetty Craster were separated after Mr Craster suffered a fall at the Armadale aged care facility where they were both living. He was moved to Fremantle Hospital, while wife Hetty, who suffers dementia, remained at the facility.

Mr Craster, who requires around-the-clock care and whose health has begum to deteriorate, is pleading to be with his wife of 68 years.

“It’s beyond me,” Alf told Nine News. “I don’t understand why I can’t be with her. She loves me and I love her.”

Mr Craster’s daughter Liz told Nine News the couple have found the situation very stressful. “How do you explain to an 87 and 89-year-old that a system doesn’t know anything about them and wants to keep them apart?” she asked. “It’s wrong on so many levels.”

Liz said she and her family are seeking to have the couple back together. Mr Craster has been on a waiting list for six months.

Concerned for their parent’s happiness, the family has started an online petition, calling on the Federal Minister for Aging Ken Wyatt to intervene. The petition has already received more than 3000 signatures.

In statement, obtained by Nine News, Wyatt said: “I can understand the distress (the Craster’s and their family) are going through. This is an unfortunate situation that, in part, reflects the shortage of residential aged care beds in Western Australia.

“There will be 3295 new aged care places made available this year to WA and there is widespread construction of new residential care facilities to meet the growing demand.”

They’re not the first couple to have been forced apart after needing to move into a care home. Canadian Marjorie Crossland, 90, who suffers from dementia, was separated from her 91-year-old husband, Edwin Crossland, when he was deemed too healthy to join her at a home – despite suffering health concerns and needing regular assistance.

Their granddaughter, Tammy Crossland, told CBC news: “He can’t cook for himself, he has to have a walker, he can’t stand unassisted. He’s 91 years old and a diabetic. He can’t be alone.”

He was assessed for a residential facility, but Tammy said that it didn’t fit her grandfather’s needs. The Nova Scotia Health Authority could not comment on the specific case the site reported.

Read more: Social workers tear apart couple aged 92, after 30 years of marriage

Have you had a similar situation to this in your family?