THE concerned family of a Warrington pensioner told of the ‘scariest three hours of our lives’ after he went missing during a recent holiday to Turkey.
Rebecca O’Brien, 33, from Orford, spent hours searching the Turkish holiday resort of Alanya after her 77-year-old dad Eddie – who suffers with Alzheimer’s – went missing from the area where they were staying back in September.
“It was the scariest three hours of our life, as it was not a familiar area to dad and it was very late in the evening,” Rebecca explained.
“I reached out to social media to share around the Alanya forums and the whole security staff were all out driving around and had got the news around the area.
“He was luckily found three miles away from the resort.”
Eddie and his daughter Rebecca after he returned from the hospital on the Turkish holiday resort (Image: Supplied) Rebecca added that when her dad, also from Orford, was found on the resort, he was “covered in injuries”. The family still to this day do not know what happened or what caused them.
“He had to be taken to hospital and spent four days in there where he underwent surgery to repair tendons on his finger. The staff at the hotel and hospital were absolutely amazing with us as a family,” she said.
And now Rebecca and her family are praising Warrington Hospital for the care her father received on the Forget Me Not Ward which helped him to recover from the trauma of that holiday upon his return to the UK.
“Dad was home for one week when he started to suffer delirium and insomnia. He was admitted to Warrington Hospital where he was for five and a half weeks and was then transferred to Hollins Park, Kingsley Ward, where they worked miracles on getting dad back to his happy self.”
Eddie with his grandson during the holiday to Turkey (Image: Supplied) Eddie was discharged from Hollins Park Hospital on Christmas Eve and was then able to spend Christmas with his family, his daughter told, adding that he had come on “leaps and bounds” since being home.
“You would not have known what he has been through the last three months,” Rebecca noted. “If it wasn’t for Warrington Hospital and Hollins Park, I’m not sure if we would have got dad back to how he was previous to our nightmare holiday.
“We are so grateful for all there help and are hoping for a better 2025 spending quality time with our dad.”
Ali Kennah, chief nurse at Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals, said: “The Forget Me Not Unit is our dedicated ward that supports people living with dementia. The unit prides itself on providing a welcoming and calm environment with person-centred approaches to engage and support patients.
“It is fantastic to hear the positive feedback from Eddie’s family following their frightening holiday experience and we are pleased to hear that Eddie was able to spend Christmas with his family.”