A Kelowna woman shares a heartfelt video about her husband’s first visit with his mother in over a year.
Restrictions were eased this week to allow British Columbians to visit their loved ones in nursing homes, as residents and staff are largely vaccinated.
After a year of strict visit restrictions to protect nursing homes from the coronavirus, residents can now be visited by two adults and one child each at the same time. Hugs and holding hands are now also allowed. So far, only one designated visitor has been able to enter nursing homes.
Christyane Dorssers and her husband immediately booked a visit to his mother, who has Alzheimer’s disease and lives in the Smith Creek village of West Kelowna. The moment was captured in the second half of the video above.
“When she saw my face, it was almost as if she had seen a ghost. She was very emotional,” says Dorssers. “You’re not a Huggy type family, but you can see that they want that physical touch.”
Dorssers held the camera in hand when her husband Dan reunited with his mother.
“It’s April Fool’s Day,” he said to his mother as he rubbed her back and held her. “So I’m the first fool you can see.”
With her head on his chest, she laughs, “You’re not a fool, you’re a great guy” and brings both of them to tears.
“I’m glad you’re here,” adds his mother.
Dorssers says the absence of a visit caused her mother-in-law to stop eating. She kept asking what she’d done wrong, thinking she’d done something to make everyone stop visiting her.
At the same time, Dorssers’ sister was able to physically reunite with her mother in Ontario yesterday. Michelle surprised her mother with a visit to Strathcona Long Term Care in Mount Forest, which she also recorded and which was captured in the first half of the video above.
Dorssers usually has video calls with her mother because she lives in Kelowna, but says she enjoyed the video recording, especially since April 1 is her mother’s birthday.
Both women were in a significantly better mood thanks to their physical visits filled with lots of hugs.
“It was wonderful,” says Dorssers.
