Thursday, February 21, 2008

173 Woman with AD killed in my town

This is really sad. I didn't know her, but she lived in my town.
The woman struck and killed while walking across Interstate 91 Monday evening has been identified as Patricia Carruthers of Wallingford....Carruthers was in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease and apparently had walked away from her home...sometime before 6 p.m. Monday...
(I)t appears as if Carruthers had wandered across the southbound lanes and into the northbound lanes, where she was hit by at least one vehicle, and maybe a second....
Carruthers, 63, was a former lawyer and a former teacher at Pond Hill School.
She held a bachelor's degree and master's degree in education from Southern Connecticut State University and had earned her law degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law in Hartford in 1989.
Just goes to show that keeping your mind active doesn't stop AD, does it?
(P)olice were still trying to determine the sequence of events in the accident.
Police said there were two vehicles involved -- a tow truck and a tractor-trailer -- but it is still unclear exactly what happened.
I can only hope that when the truck(s) hit her, she died instantly and never knew what happened. One second she was walking on the highway, the next my dad was greeting her at the door of the Elsewhere Bar. Say hi to my dad for me!
Screenprint of news article
Her obituary is online and it turns out I knew one of her sons in high school. I'd say it's a small world, but it's Wallingford, after all.

3 comments:

Patty McNally Doherty said...

That is such awful news. Losing someone in a violent way is so tough to deal with, my hearts goes out to your local family. I agree that the quick instant death is most likely what happened and the way you put it - one second she's here, the next she's at the door of the Elsewhere - sure brings the peace and comfort we've struggled hard to find.

Imagine the Elsewhere. Just picture it in your mind. The party going on, the pool balls clinking, the glasses being hoisted in toast after toast, no pain, no loss of memory. I know that life isnt' fair, it's not supposed to be. But I believe that if there IS life after death it's ALL about fairness.

I really think the people who are the most vulnerable when they die, and especially those who die BECAUSE of that vulnerability, get the best seats, the best waitress, and the best bartender.

Mauigirl said...

Very sad. My father, after retirement, worked as a proofreader at a local medical transcription company and one of his colleagues, another retiree, was struck by a car and killed, crossing the street near the office they worked at. I wonder if he had started to have AD too. My father ended up losing that job when his AD became apparent.

Anonymous said...

As someone with a parent suffering from the horror of Alzheimer's disease and witnessing the pernicious way that this disease that gradually steals the very soul of a once-intelligent and loving person, I see it this way: though her sudden death is sad and shocking, the woman and the family have been spared of years of misery, suffering and financial ruin. Her illness came to a sudden and merciful end.