KELOWNA — An elderly Okanagan couple who were forced to live apart and whose family was imploring Interior Health to bring them closer together again is finally being reunited.
Global Okanagan first reported the story on Tuesday. Since then, a bed has opened up in Kelowna, so the couple can now be in the same city.
However, the situation is still far from ideal.
Don Huston and his wife Elsie lived in Summerland until June, when it became clear Elsie could no longer care for her ailing husband.
Don was sent to the Penticton Regional Hospital and then to a care home in Oliver.
Meanwhile, Elsie was transferred to a care home in kelowna.
“I said we’ve been married all these years and now we are going to be separated. I talked to him, he said I hope not, he was pretty unhappy,” says Elsie.
The couple, who have been married for 69 years, says those months apart seemed like an eternity.
Interior Health told the family they would reunite the pair as soon as possible, but there was a wait list.
Their daughter, Joan Wood came to Global News to share the story with the public and suddenly she got a call saying a bed had come open in another care home in Kelowna.
Now the Huston’s are in the same city, though still in separate facilities. It’s an improvement, but Elsie says it’s not what she is ultimately hoping for.
“Well that he would be able to come here where I live and we can see each other everyday or as we like and have dinner together would be nice,” Elsie explains.
The couple is closer together but once again, Don Huston is on a waiting list, which is he says is not an ideal place to be when you’re 93-years-old.
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