Two Escapees

How were supposed to know that the homeless patient had a home? He had been found on the street. He was filthy, dressed in rags, incoherent and tested positive for several controlled substances. He was also badly emaciated and suffering from a couple of serious infections. During the weeks he stayed with us, he was delirious and unable to communicate.

Eventually he got better and told us that he had a family. They were contacted and came rushing to see him. It was hard to believe that someone who looked like him could have a wife, kids and a house.

What had happened to him was a bad car accident. He had been in another hospital for months and one day, he escaped. He wasn't entirely in his right mind and no one, including him, knows why he did that. He ended up on the streets and began using illegal drugs and booze. He had a history of that kind of thing, but had never been homeless before. His family was frantic and had filled out a missing person form. Weeks went by without anyone knowing what had happened to him.

He is now doing much better and has been transferred back to the hospital that lost him. I hope they do a better job of watching him this time.

We also lost our other homeless patient. He escaped. He needed more drugs than we were willing to give him, so he took off when no one was looking. Oh well.