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Red Deer Advocate THURSDAY, OCT. 16, 2014
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FRIGHT NIGHT AT THE SITE
LONG-TERM CARE
Region getting 28 more spaces BY SUSAN ZIELINSKI ADVOCATE STAFF Twenty-eight continuing care spaces for seniors will open up in Central Alberta in six months as part of the province’s plan to move 700 seniors out of overcrowded hospitals. Within Central Alberta, 12 spaces will be located in Drumheller, and four spaces each in Lacombe, Ponoka, Stettler and Wetaskiwin. No other details were available from AHS. Brenda Corney, Friends of Medicare Red Deer chapter chair, said it’s not continuing-care beds that are needed — it’s long-term care beds, which provide a higher level of care. “It’s not continuing-care patients who are in our hospital beds. The people in our hospital beds are people waiting for someone to die in a longterm care facility in order to get a bed,” Corney said on Wednesday. The Central Alberta spaces are among the 464 continuing care spaces or beds that will be created by redirecting existing resources. On Tuesday, the provincial government also promised to spend $60 million on new continuing care or longterm care beds for the rest of the 700 seniors to free up acute care and emergency beds in hospitals.
Please see CARE on Page A2
Contributed photo
Fright Night at the Site offers the public a horrifying experience at Rocky Mountain House National Historic Site. The 1.3-km haunted trail walk along the banks of the North Saskatchewan River will leave you screaming. The trail will be open to the public Oct. 17-18. There will be a Family Fright on Oct. 19 from 2-5 p.m.
Exhibit tackles men’s suicide BY SUSAN ZIELINSKI ADVOCATE STAFF The impact of men’s suicide upon family and friends has been translated into images as part of the University of British Columbia’s photo exhibition Man-Up Against Suicide that will be in Rimbey from today to Monday. By coincidence, 11 out of the 61 participants who contributed photos to convey how they felt were from Rim-
bey. Genevieve Creighton, part of the exhibition team, said photos were therapeutic for some participants as it allowed them externalize their emotions or memories of those who died. Other photos represented ways to prevent suicide. Creighton said one woman from Rimbey took a photo of a field with a couple of pickup trucks in the distance. “She said it represented why men’s
suicide is higher in rural areas. They go into the industry at a real young age and it kind of teaches them about being tough ... and that’s where they learn they can’t talk about things that are bothering them or talk about sadness, or if they are struggling around issues of sexual orientation. They have to be silent about that just because the industry is so masculine,” said Creighton about the photo.
Please see SUICIDE on Page A5
‘All we have is hope’ SIX-YEAR-OLD INNISFAIL GIRL DIAGNOSED WITH INCURABLE FATAL ILLNESS
Contributed photo
Brooke Aubuchon, 6, has Late Infantile Jansky-Bielschowsky disease, an extremely rare fatal disease that has no cure and no treatment. Those who have it will die, usually between the ages of eight and 12.
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“I live on my heels.” Robin Brand is talking about her daughter Brooke Aubuchon. Six-year-old Brooke has an extremely rare fatal disease that has no cure and no treatment. Batten disease has already claimed her older brother, Alexander. Officially known as Late Infantile JanskyMARY-ANN Bielschowsky BARR disease, those who have it will die, usually between the ages of eight and 12. There are fewer than 10 cases in
BARRSIDE
Canada. Worldwide, there are about 700 cases. It is an inherited nervous system disorder. As time passes, children affected become more and more mentally and physically disabled. Brooke and Alexander were both born healthy. In the beginning, they met all their growth milestones — like walking — when they were supposed to, says Robin, 30. “They both talked and said words, but they never did speak in sentences.” The family lives in Innisfail. Dad Darcy Aubuchon is the sole breadwinner and Robin is a full-time stayat-home mom. They have four other children, a four-year-old daughter and three boys, ages 11, 13 and 15. (The 11-year-old does not live full time with the family as he is Darcy’s son from a previous marriage.)
Please see BROOKE on Page A2
Top court considers ‘right to die’ The so-called ‘right to die’ was back on Canada’s conscience Wednesday as the Supreme Court began hearings.
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