Terminally-ill man died bloody hospice death after staff left him trapped under bed, lawsuit claims
- WARNING: This story contains graphic images
An elderly man with dementia died screaming for help in a pool of blood after he was left trapped under his hospice bed for hours, a lawsuit claims.
Raymond Hessel, 85, died on November 12, 2023, just days after staff at a Connecticut senior living facility found him on the floor after he fell out of his bed in the middle of the night, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit, filed by Hessel's daughter-in-law, Meghan, accuses the facility's owner, Gary Ferone, of failing to properly train his staff and not monitoring the seniors 24/7 as he had promised.
Ferone is a 'liar' and a 'con man,' who is scheming against families, according to the complaint.
'Only the most heinous predator would prey on the vulnerabilities of the aged and infirm and those who love them. Gary Ferone is such a predator,' the lawsuit reads.
Hessel was living at 7 Forest Hill Road, a $8,400-a-year residential assisted living facility that promised families an alternative to traditional hospice care in a home-like setting with around-the-clock attention.
But the lawsuit claims that at 3am on November 2, 2023, an employee named Lydia Lungile found Hessel wedged under his bed, but walked away and didn't call 911.
'What was Ferone’s worker’s excuse for doing nothing? Ferone had never trained, educated, or instructed her to do otherwise,' the lawsuit states.
Raymond Hessel, 85, died in November 2023, after allegedly falling out of his bed multiple times at an assisted living facility
Hessel was a resident at 7 Forest Hill Road in Norwalk, Connecticut, which was advertised as a small 'boutique' assisted living facility
Lungile was the only employee working the overnight shift and was responsible for monitoring five residents, according to the lawsuit.
Hessel's family claimed in the complaint that Ferone hired employees who weren't licensed, and Lungile was allegedly told to do nothing, 'because Ray was on hospice care'.
Lungile was arrested the following May for reckless endangerment in the first degree and cruelty, according to the Norwalk Police Department.
She pleaded not guilty to both charges and posted bail, according to court records. Lungile's next court hearing is on November 20.
Hessel's family stated in the lawsuit that despite Lungile's actions, Ferone ultimately had the responsibility to ensure his staff was adequately trained to care for the elderly. She was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
The family claims that Hessel's nightmare only began to come to an end after employee Sharmeen Bowens, the acting supervisor of the facility, finally heard his screams.
Bowens discovered Hessel was profusely bleeding and called 911. An EMT found Hessel on the floor in what was later described by another employee as a 'blood bath'.
The elderly man was crying out in pain, had blood oozing from his wound, dried blood on his head and on the floor, and was begging for help when an ambulance arrived, according to the lawsuit.
EMS filed an elder abuse report after Lungile told the emergency medical response team that she didn't contact 911 or her supervisor, 'because she thought that Ray was in hospice and that it was not required,' according to the lawsuit.
Gary Ferone owned and operated the hospice style facility, along with four other locations in Connecticut
The family's lawsuit against Ferone and his companies alleged that Hessel was left wedged under his bed and crying in pain for hours at the facility after a nurse failed to help him. Police took photos of the gruesome scene they encountered after arriving at the hospice
Police responded to the scene, and Hessel was still on the ground, covered in blood. An officer took photos of the incident, and Hessel was transported to the hospital.
Meghan and Hessel's daughter, Catherine, said in the lawsuit that they weren't notified about the emergency until the next morning by a third party.
The lawsuit also alleged that Lungile had shown up to work drunk and was supposed to be fired before her shift on November 2, but stayed to work the night shift because there wasn't a replacement.
Hessel was released from the hospital and returned to 7 Forest Hills Road after Ferone allegedly assured his family that an aide would be by his bedside all night for an additional $300 to $400.
Just days later, Hessel fell out of bed again, but his family was allegedly never told of the incident, the lawsuit says.
Meghan said that when she learned of the incident and confronted Ferone, he told her that the night aide was 'using the bathroom'.
Hessel then allegedly fell out of bed two more times on November 10 and died two days later at the living facility.
'Ferone lied to seniors and their family members to get them to sign contracts requiring them to pay exorbitant sums of money in exchange for what they were told would be 24/7, responsible, skilled, and compassionate caregiving and supervision in small residential facilities,' the lawsuit states.
Lydia Lungile, an employee of the facility, was arrested for reckless endangerment
Hessel's family said in the complaint that they paid $8,400 a year, and alleged that Ferone was cashing in on about $210,000 a month from the 25 residents who lived across the five locations he owned.
Hessel's family has alleged that Ferone has demonstrated a pattern of schemes, citing an investigation in the 1990s where he was accused of acting as a financial advisor without a license.
The US government argued that Ferone swindled money, and the case settled for $250,000, according to the lawsuit.
Then, in the early 2000s, Ferone was accused of creating a fake dating service, charging clients $5,500 to join, the complaint states.
Clients said that the matching service was random and not as it was advertised. Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo prosecuted the case during his tenure as the state's attorney general.
Ferone was ordered to pay $750,000 in restitution to his former clients, the lawsuit stated.
The lawsuit is seeking a minimum of $15,000 in damages. Ferone is named as a defendant alongside Sunshine Sr. Residence LLC, Fairfield Family Care LLC, Fairfield Family Care Holdings LLC, and 7 Forest Hills Rd LLC.
Daily Mail has reached out to all the defendants' representation for comment. They have not yet filed a response to the lawsuit.
