Bastion Place dementia patient died of natural causes

SALMON ARM – A 93-year-old dementia patient who wandered into another resident’s room at a care home in Salmon Arm and died four days later passed of natural causes, according to a coroner’s report.

Bastion Place staff saw John Edward Young sleeping in his bed at 11:30 p.m. Oct. 2. Half an hour later, they found him lying on the floor of another dementia patient’s room. The occupant was standing over him, holding onto his clothing. It was speculated Young was attacked by the other patient, but coroner Andrew Cave said there was no evidence of trauma.

Both residents were transported to Shuswap Lake General Hospital for assessment. Cave said due to the dementia of both residents, “it could not be ascertained what had occurred.”

There was minor bruising to Young’s left shoulder, but multiple x-rays showed no sign of trauma.

Young’s level of consciousness began to decline significantly and on Oct. 6 he became unresponsive. At 1:10 a.m. Oct. 7, he died.

A Computerized Tomography (CT scan) of Young’s head was performed and revealed no evidence of trauma. In the absence of any traumatic injuries, Cave found that Young died of a natural cause: atherosclerotic coronary artery disease.

Cave listed dementia as a contributing factor, and made no recommendations.

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