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The Florida man was a U.S. Army veteran.
An 84-year-old Army veteran in Jacksonville, Florida, died after he reportedly developed a gangrene infection in his genitals. Now his family members allege the nursing home where the veteran lived ignored his condition until it was too late.
The vet, York Spratling, began living at the Consulate Health Care of Jacksonville in December 2016 after his health began to worsen and he was unable to live alone, The Naples Daily News reported. In February 2017, Spratling was rushed to a local emergency room and was informed that his genitals had become gangrenous. Gangrene is dead tissue caused by an infection or lack of blood flow.
Doctors there told Spratling — he reportedly had diabetes, a condition which can increase a person’s chances of developing gangrene, according to the Mayo Clinic — and his family that the man required surgery to remove the dead tissue.
The doctor “said he had never seen anything like that before, especially in this day and age,” Derwin Spratling, the veteran’s nephew, told the Naples paper. “It really freaked us out.”.
The man died shortly after the surgery, according to the newspaper.
Staffers at the nursing home reportedly told state investigators they “could smell [his ] infection from the door to his room,” the newspaper reported, citing reports. But despite the stench, the staff did not document the infection or tell a doctor until five days later, the newspaper said.
The veteran was allegedly not being bathed, though nursing home staff claimed that Spratling refused showers.
“It’s way past obvious. This is so past obvious that it’s mind-blowing,” Derwin Spratling said of his uncle’s condition.
“His private area, nobody washed that,” Lula Price-Brown, Spratling’s sister, told The Naples Daily News.
“Who was taking care of this man?” she added.
Investigators later concluded the man’s death was “due to inadequate supervision and medical neglect,” The Naples Daily News reported.
Despite the findings, however, there has reportedly been no action taken against the nursing home by the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), a state agency that regulates nursing homes in Florida, according to the newspaper.
What’s more, the investigation into Spratling’s condition came after AHCA had cited Consulate Health Care three times in the year before the vet’s death, claiming the nursing home did not have “enough nurses to properly care for residents, including showering them,” the newspaper reported.
It was not immediately clear if Spratling’s family plans to take legal action.
Consulate Health Care did not respond to Fox News’ request for comment on Saturday.
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