Family speaks out after ALS patient allegedly robbed in own home by care worker [Video]

With close to a million Canadians requiring care at home, personal care workers are in an important position of trust.

But a Nova Scotia woman is speaking out and calling for better oversight after her sister was allegedly robbed in her own home.

Patty Naugler’s late sister, Kathy Newman, was diagnosed with ALS — a terminal nervous system disorder also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease — in 2023.

Last year, RCMP charged a woman the family had hired to care for Newman with fraud after her credit and debit cards were allegedly used without her knowledge.

“How could somebody do that? We opened her home for them to come in and treat her with compassion, empathy. And they didn’t,” said Naugler.

Newman had used a wheelchair and was eventually left unable to speak.

“The first thing she lost was (the use of) her hands and then her legs,” said Naugler.

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