Elderly Woman Dead After Senior Citizens Home Served Her Dishwashing Liquid Instead Of Grape Juice

An elderly woman has been reported dead at a California senior citizens' home after she was allegedly served her dishwashing liquid instead of grape juice on Saturday, Aug. 27.

The deceased woman, a dementia-stricken 93-year-old identified as Gertrude Maxwell, a resident at Atria Park Senior Living Facility in San Mateo, California, was rushed to a hospital and pronounced dead after the facility reportedly served her dishwashing liquid instead of drinkable grape juice on Saturday morning, Aug. 27.

Two other elderly residents of the facility who consumed the liquid were also transported to the hospital in critical conditions, the Daily Beast reported.

The victim’s daughter, Marcia Cutchin, said that she had been told by Atria that Maxwell had ingested an “alkaline cleaning solution that eats protein.” When her mother was taken to the hospital, she already had “severe blistering of her mouth and throat and esophagus."

According to Cutchin, Maxwell’s family was told that there was nothing the medical team could do to treat the internal wounds. The first responders initially believed that the patients had ingested the substance on their own. However, Cutchin disputed the statement and added that it would be impossible in her mother’s case because she suffers from dementia and cannot feed herself, New York Post reported.

“Many people like my mother, you have to hold a cup to her mouth and tip it into her mouth,” Cutchin said.

“There may have been a mistake,’’ a source revealed “A jug of grape juice is what somebody thought they had picked up and poured into glasses, but it was some sort of cleaning fluid.”

Meanwhile, Atria Park Senior Living Facility representatives revealed that the employees involved in the incident have been suspended and added that they are conducting their own internal investigation into the incident.

“We have been working with local authorities, who have informed us that one resident passed away,” Atria said in a statement. “Our sincerest condolences are with the family.”

Maxwell reportedly fell and broke her hip at the facility sometime in the past six months. When Maxwell was examined for that fall, an x-ray revealed that she had broken the hip twice in the past half year. However, the facility had allegedly not reported the fall or treated the woman for the broken hip.

Maxwell is survived by eight children and 20 grandchildren. San Mateo police have launched an investigation into the tragic incident.