Home care bond spans 20 years
Proving that age is no barrier to living independently at home are 99-year-old vintage motorcycle enthusiast Ronald Morrison and his 79-year-old BaptistCare Home Care support worker Dorit Fleischer.
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28 April 2021
News
| Home Care
Home is important to the spry nonagenarian because his favourite place to be, is in his at-home workshop restoring classic bikes.
For German-born support worker Mrs Fleischer, helping Mr Morrison with cleaning, washing and ironing once a week is a way of caring for someone outside of her own family.
“When I left West Berlin in 1962 to come to Perth, I left my parents, so I wasn’t able to care for them when they got older,” Mrs Fleischer said.
As a Baptistcare Home Care Services support worker, Mrs Fleischer has been lending Mr Morrison a helping hand around his home for the past 20 years and the two have formed an unshakeable bond.
“I’ve got to know Ron’s family over the years; I do feel like part of the family now,” she said.
As well as getting the chores done, the weekly visits are also an opportunity for the duo to catch up over a cup of tea.
They share each other’s news and chat about everything from Mr Morrison’s choir to what’s blooming in Mrs Fleischer’s garden.
“Ron loves to sing. Sometimes we sing together. He likes the company,” said Mrs Fleischer, who attends the same church as Mr Morrison.
“Ron has always been a gentleman, always so kind and he always wears a proper ironed shirt.”
Like many older Western Australians, Mr Morrison takes advantage of a Government-funded tailored home care package through Baptistcare.
“Dorit is a lovely person and has been my main carer for 20 years,” Mr Morrison said.
“That’s 20 years of really good service. And she irons beautifully. I get lovely, ironed shirts to go out in.”
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