By Rosemary K. Otzman
Independent Editor
A 31-year-old Sumpter Township man who was suffering from mental illness hung himself during his lunch break at Fox Auto Parts on Jan. 7.
Sumpter Township Police Detective John Toth said family members said the man had gone to the hospital for help four days earlier, but was turned away because no beds were available. He was scheduled for outpatient treatment at the end of the month.
Det. Toth said the man spent time with his family members over the weekend and then went to work on Monday. Toth said Fox Auto Parts, at 8111 Rawsonville Road, has an organized lunch break and it was assumed the worker went to lunch.
After lunchtime, when they couldn’t reach him by radio, they noticed his timecard indicated he didn’t go to lunch and started looking for him.
A young employee found him and called for help. He and two other coworkers got him down.
Toth said Joe Fox was very concerned with the effect of this shock on his employees. Toth said Fox employs a handful of paid-on-call fire fighters and one of them brought in some pamphlets to distribute to help.
Toth said the deceased employee had children and so the situation is very sad.
Apparently, the man did not qualify for immediate aid at the hospital, Toth said, adding this is not the first time he has seen a person seeking help for mental problems that had been turned away from a hospital.
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2 Comments
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Sadly this is not surprising the lack of mental health care and the way the turn the suffering away is criminal. I wish the best for the family and friends of this poor man who had cried for help and been told there was no room at the inn.
This is so sad… I wish this country wouldn’t place such a negative outlook on mental illness and just get these people the help they need!! I don’t think anyone should be turned away, get them stable, transport them to another facility that can accommodate them more appropriately, don’t just pass them off. My thoughts and prayers are with this mans family and his Fox Auto co-workers!