A woman in a vegetative state for at least a decade after a near-drowning incident has given birth to a boy at a nursing facility. Phoenix police and the Arizona Department of Health Services are investigating possible sex abuse.
“None of the staff were aware that she was pregnant until she was pretty much giving birth,” a source told AZFamily.com.
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The 20-year-old was a patient at Hacienda, a care facility for people with intellectual disabilities.
“I can’t even imagine how horrible it must be to be a victim of abuse like that” Dr. Greg Marchand told AZfamily.com. “This was an extremely dangerous situation with no monitoring. There’s no doubt she was able to feel pain, but how much consciousness there was to really take the suffering from that is what I don’t know,” he said. Marchand said when though the woman could not communicate, she likely was able to feel pain during birth.”
Hacienda HealthCare said in a statement: “We have recently become aware of a deeply disturbing incident involving the health and safety of a Hacienda resident. While federal and state privacy laws prohibit us from publicly discussing a patient’s health or case, Hacienda has and will continue to cooperate fully with law enforcement and all the relevant regulatory agencies regarding this matter.”
Hacienda HealthCare said in 50 years of service in Arizona, “we have reliably and safely served thousands of residents and their families. We are proud of our record and our position as an industry leader in caring for the intellectually and developmentally disabled.”
