When 84-year-old Hope Shepherd arrived at the Berea Gardens Retirement Foundation Lily Kirchmann home in East London, her family expected that she would be treated with the utmost care and attention. Now, startling footage from the home has surfaced that shows Shepherd being abused by her caregiver, Ncendiswa Mkencele. In the clips, Mkencele can be seen swinging her arms at Shepherd and pushing her around. The caregiver has expressed remorse for the way she handled the situation, but she made it clear that she wasn’t acting on a whim. Mkencele said that Shepherd had used racial slurs on occasion and had even attempted to throw feces in her face. Shepherd’s family acknowledged that Berea Gardens had complained about the 84-year-old getting physical with their staff. Hope suffers from dementia.
Whether or not Ms. Shepherd was behaving poorly, Ncendiswa Mkencele was in the wrong for abusing an elderly woman. As a caregiver, it is your job and responsibility to help those who can’t quite help themselves. Mkencele was terminated from her job and is currently being investigated by the police. What type of punishment do you think she deserves? How would you react if this happened to someone you knew? Sound off in the comments section below and don’t forget to SHARE this video on Facebook.
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