Aug 26, 2021

106-year-old celebrates her first birthday in aged care

106-year-old celebrates her first birthday in aged care

The mother of two, grandmother of three and great-grandmother of five just celebrated her milestone birthday on 18 August at BlueCross Box Hill aged care residence, which has been her home since March 2021. 

Prior to that, Betty has been living independently on her own, leading an active life that included supervised workouts at the local gym.

While current COVID-19 restrictions in Victoria have prevented her from having a big party for her birthday, Betty was not the least bit perturbed.

Her family and staff at her aged care residence, however, were not about to let Betty’s big day go without a bang. Her daughter Sue put out an appeal on social media for people to send birthday cards to her mum. 

Betty has since received over 100 cards from kind-hearted strangers and the numbers are still counting. In a similar appeal last year, Betty received a total of 501 birthday cards!

“Marketing is my business and I just put what I know into good use,” said Sue.

Staff at BlueCross Box Hill had some exciting plans up their sleeves too for their oldest resident. The lifestyle, catering and care teams all rallied together to create a memorable birthday for Betty from sun-up. 

Staff had the whole dining and lounge areas decorated with balloons, signs, and banners, and also hosted an afternoon tea party for Betty with other residents.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Supermarket giant to allow elderly shoppers to ‘shop from their car’

  The coronavirus outbreak has had a significant impact on the process of shopping for groceries that goes far beyond empty shelves and mask-wearing consumers.  Supermarket retailers across the globe have employed a number of innovative strategies to protect shoppers, many of which focus on exclusive offerings for their older and most vulnerable customers. US... Read More

Child of the Blitz: Wartime Memories From an Aged Care Resident

In a deeply moving piece, writer Michael Preston shares the story of Alice, an aged care resident whose life was forever changed by the Blitz during the Second World War. Read More

“Patients Stare Vacantly and the Corridors are Empty”: Forgetting Our Lonely Elderly

In the hustle and bustle of daily life – with spouses, children, friends, pets, work and hobbies – the modern person appears to have very little time to spare. And while trying to juggle everything, the people who are most likely to be “left behind” are their elderly parents. “In the pursuit of happiness, getting... Read More
Advertisement