October 8, 2024 – 08:22
Running out of financial resources and government assistance
Woman whose husband suffers from early-onset Alzheimer’s asks for public help
By: Alexandre Brouillard
Six months after launching a heartfelt cry in The 2 BanksGeneviève Coutu must turn to a crowdfunding campaign to be able to keep her 55-year-old husband suffering from early Alzheimer’s at home.
Louis Lafrenière received his diagnosis in 2020, when he was 51 years old. His life expectancy was only six months. So, overnight, his wife Geneviève Coutu became a caregiver. Last February, she lost her job because it was impossible for her to combine her role as caregiver with her work.
Then, in April, she shared her story with the newspaper, lamenting the lack of financial assistance available for caregivers. The latter claims to have studied all the options, but there is no more help available anywhere.
“Having no longer any financial resources or any government assistance, it is through the financial generosity of the public that I hope to find the help we need to keep my husband, Louis, at home. […] Louis is too young to benefit from credits offered to the elderly. No salary for caregivers exists,” she explains.
Ms. Coutu is therefore asking for help from the public via a crowdfunding campaign entitled “To keep Louis, in comfort and love, at home” available online.
“We hope for a miracle that will allow Louis to end his life with dignity, surrounded by people who love him and with whom he is stimulated every day,” concludes Geneviève Coutu.
