Walking down the street of his Bay Ridge neighborhood one day, Mr. Li spotted a four-year old girl with her father and became frightened. Feeling the need to defend himself, he struck the child with his cane. The police were called. Mr. Li gave his age as 64, and when he could provide no reasonable explanation, the officer had no choice but to arrest him.

The problem is that Mr. Li was not 64, but rather 72. Moreover, he was experiencing delusions that can occur in the middle stages of Alzheimer’s, and in rare instances, spark violent outbursts.

Mr. Li’s daughter, Sophia, first noticed changes in her father five years earlier, around 9/11. When she called and told him the World Trade Center had been hit, he ignored her and asked, “So when are you coming over?” Mr. Li began to wander, his elderly wife unable to contain him. Sophia knew something was wrong but her father, always stubbornly independent, refused to see a doctor.

Mr. Li’s daughter, Sophia, first noticed changes in her father five years earlier, around 9/11. When she called and told him the World Trade Center had been hit, he ignored her and asked, “So when are you coming over?” Mr. Li began to wander, his elderly wife unable to contain him. Sophia knew something was wrong but her father, always stubbornly independent, refused to see a doctor.

Things changed a little in 2004, when Mr. Li suffered a heart attack and was put on medication. Unwilling to take the medicine even from his wife, Mr. Li trusted only Sophia to give him the pills each night when she visited. The diagnosis of Alzheimer’s was confirmed a few months later, when Mr. Li was found wandering on a highway. With guidance from a hospital social worker, Sophia negotiated the Medicaid system. Ironically, Mr. Li was approved for home care the day of his arrest. Now he was on his way to Riker’s Island.

Considering the circumstances, it may be surprising that the NYC Chapter would come to see Mr. Li as a very lucky man. Over the next few weeks, the care consultant got to know Sophia as a tireless advocate for her father. Due to her efforts, her father was removed from the general population at Riker’s and placed in their infirmary, where he was taken under the wing of a younger patient.

Mr. Li received compassionate care at the Riker’s Island infirmary. During his stay there, Sophia realized her father needed nursing home care. The Chapter referred her to FRIA (Friends and Relatives of the Institutionalized Aged), and Sophia energetically researched dementia units. Thinking it highly unlikely that a prison would be familiar with the PRI form needed for nursing home admission, the care consultant contacted the director of the Riker’s Island infirmary. After she explained the need not only for a special form but for a Chinese language translator, the director thought for a moment. “Which dialect?” One day later, a Cantonese-speaking nurse had prepared the form.

Mr. Li’s luck persisted in the form of a savvy Legal Aide attorney and a sympathetic District Attorney, who arranged for all criminal charges to be dropped. Unfortunately, no nursing home would take Mr. Li from Riker’s Island. The law therefore required him to be released to a State psychiatric facility.

The coincidences multiplied. In arranging for Mr. Li’s transfer to a hospital, the care consultant called the Office of Mental Health in Albany and reached an administrator who was touched by Mr. Li’s story. Her father had died from Alzheimer’s. Instead of taking days, the transfer was approved within hours. Mr. Li was sent to a Chinesespeaking unit at South Beach Psychiatric, where he came under the care of Dr. Grace Wong, a former colleague of the Chapter’s clinical director, Reva Hoffman.

Mr. Li’s greatest piece of luck is his daughter, Sophia. Throughout his journey in the legal system, she was a steady presence at her father’s side and the driving force behind his release. Mr. Li now lives in a Staten Island nursing home, where he still does not allow anyone except Sophia touch him. She shaves him on her regular visits there, and hopes ultimately to move him to a facility closer to home.

Sophia is an unsung hero, like countless family members the Alzheimer’s Association works with every day. The staff of the NYC Chapter recognizes, acknowledges and applauds all of your efforts. We want you to know that you are not alone --- we are only a phone call or e-mail away.

— Amanda Leis
Manager, Care Consultation

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