No Way Out

A Couple Faces Life In Prison After 35 People Die In Their Care

(CBS)  This broadcast originally aired on Feb. 2, 2008.

After Hurricane Katrina had passed over southeastern Louisiana in August 2005, many people thought the region had been spared from the most severe damage.

But the worst was yet to come: the region's protective levees started to fail, and entire communities were overwhelmed by floodwaters.

Thousands had evacuated the region, but others stayed behind to ride out the storm, including the residents and staff of St. Rita's Nursing Home in St. Bernard Parish.

The wall of water and its aftermath left 35 of the residents dead, and prompted negligent homicide and other charges against the owners of the nursing home.

They faced the possibility of spending the rest of their life in prison.

Would and should the owners be held responsible for their decision not to evacuate?

Correspondent Harold Dow reports.

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Just southeast of New Orleans, in St. Bernard Parish, St. Rita's Nursing Home sits empty and silent. It's where Joe Galladoro and his sister Cheryl last saw their father, T.J., alive.

"To hear that my dad was left in a building, and drowned, that's just unforgivable," Cheryl says.

The people Cheryl can't forgive are the nursing home's owners, Sal and Mabel Mangano. "I was told that he would be cared for the way he needed to be cared for. And taken out of harm's way," she says.

"They lied to us and therefore my father perished," Joe adds.

The last weekend of T.J. Galladoro's life was in late August 2005. All over the Gulf Coast, preparations were being made for Katrina, the hurricane many predicted would be "the big one."

Larry Ingargiola was the director of Homeland Security for St. Bernard Parish. "I believed that we were gonna see 20, 22 feet of water," he recalls.

Parish clerk Polly Boudreaux says St. Bernard officials were desperately telling residents to leave. "There were messages over and over, not just parish government messages on our cable station, but the news media was out saying the same thing," she says.

"The reality sunk in for a vast majority of our residents Friday and Saturday. That made them pack up and go," she adds.

That Saturday night, Cheryl was checking in on her father one last time at St. Rita's, before she took her family north. "My dad looked up and calls me 'Shay.' That was a little pet name he had for me. And said, 'Shay, you coming to get me tomorrow? They have a hurricane coming,'" she remembers. "I looked at him and I said, 'Well, dad, you know. You're going to be taken care of.' He listened. He heard. He knew it. But waits a little while and again, the same question came. 'Shay, you coming to get me tomorrow?'"

Cheryl knew it was too risky to move her frail father herself, so she was relying on St. Rita's to take him out of harm's way.

"One of the nurses came in. Sat on a chair. Knee to knee with me. Held my hands. And she said, 'Cheryl, you need to go. And no, don't worry about your dad. The home has an evacuation in plan. He'll be fine. You need to leave your dad with us, because you're not able to tend to his needs.' I was crying and she kept assuring me, 'This is where your dad needs to be, he will be taken care of,'" Cheryl says.

Also relying on St. Rita's to take care of his mother, Eva, was Tom Rodrigue, an emergency management official in neighboring Jefferson Parish. But Rodrigue was having trouble getting in touch with the Manganos.

"I called at least twice on Saturday. I asked if they were available, and they told me they were not available to come and talk on the phone. So and when I hung up, I called the emergency manager for St. Bernard who I knew. I spoke with him, and he told me, 'Hey, tomorrow they're gonna call for a mandatory evacuation. They'll have to respond,'" Rodrigue remembers.

By Sunday morning, Aug. 28, Katrina was churning through the Gulf and upgraded to a category 5 hurricane, the most dangerous kind. At 8 a.m., parish officials broadcast their starkest warning yet to those who might still be in the parish. "You need to leave. You must leave St. Bernard Parish and head north," they warned.

But just after that message was broadcast, parish officials learned that St. Rita's nursing home had still not evacuated. "It was shocking," says Polly Boudreaux. "I think we were all mortified that, you know, at that stage that they would still be there."

"Did you want St. Rita's to evacuate your mom and all the other residents?" Dow asks Rodrigue.

"Absolutely," he says. "I really never had any options. I had to depend on them."

Boudreaux was ordered to call Mabel Mangano to see if St. Rita's needed buses to evacuate. "Her comment was that they were concerned about the condition of the very frail patients, that if they put them on the buses, those who were the most frail would not survive the trip on the bus," Boudreaux says.

Later that morning, parish coroner Dr. Bryan Bertucci called St. Rita's again. "I spoke to Mabel, and told her that I had two buses that could take the residents wherever she wanted. The response that I got was that, 'We have five special needy patients, five nurses, two generators. And I've spoken to most of the families, and they said we could stay.' My response was, 'Do you want the buses, or do you not want the buses?' The answer was no," he says.

But by Sunday night, as the storm closed in, Cheryl Galladoro was hundreds of miles away, still thinking she had left her frail and sickly 82-year-old father in good hands. "When I kissed my dad goodbye, I didn't know that that would be for the last time I would ever kiss him goodbye. He had a look on his face like, you know, 'You’re leaving me,'" she remembers.

[ariddle2]

I find it disgusting that the family members of the people that died in the nursing home are attempting to hold the caregivers responsible. The woman who said that she went by there and told her father good bye and he wanted her to take him with her but she thought him too frail to move on her own- had it been a child in a daycare center he wouldn''t have been left, and having said that, once your parents are in the condition that they must be placed in a home they are your responsiblity as if they were a small child. Shame on you.

[aggielas]

I also agree that it''s disgusting that the women actually said she went by the day before and left her own father to fend for himself. She should''ve been prosecuted as well. I''m hoping she didn''t leave her pets behind. I would definitely have taken either of my parents with me as it would give me peace of mind.

[lmchambo]

Just FYI. I was from St. Bernard Parish. I knew no one that died at the nursing home presonally, but did know of people who lost loved ones there. Some were on ventilators, bedridden, etc. and had no way of bringing their family members with them. They were promised by the nursing home that they would be evacuated and were lied to.

[rbartos1]

Please pass this message along to the Manganos and please tell the Manganos that we love them and we know that they made the best decision for their residents. I work for a national nursing home company and I know we make hard decisions every day regarding our residents. I know what happened to them is not their fault and it was just a terrible tragedy that happened as a result of the levys breaking. I believe the government was trying to blame somebody for their faults and the Manganos were the prime tagets. Thank you for sharing their story with us. I believe that they did love their residents very much and I think they are hurting just as much about what happened.
Manganos God Bless and I will be saying an extra prayer for you this evening.

Robin Bartos
Cornelius, NC

[cgr260]

Anyone that says the Mangano''s made a difficult decision is ignorant and stupid, they made the best decision for their bottom line. They were concerned about the financial burden of removing their residents, not the well being of their residents.

This story angered perhaps more than any story I have seen on a news magazine show. There were warnings from the local, state and national government to evacuate, other nursing homes in the area with patients who needed an equal amount of critical care were evacuated, buses were offered to the Mangano''s, the Mangano''s told family members of residents that they would evacuate their loved ones, but somehow they made the decision to leave their residents to drown and die a horrible, terrifying death. The Manganos deserve to be rotting in prison.

Think of it this way, if a fire started in the nursing home due to faulty wiring and the Mangano''s did not evacuate the residents and the fire caused fatalities, who is at fault, the contractors that installed the wiring or the Mangano''s???????

Again, the Mangano''s should be rotting in prison!

[randsmom1]

I also find it disgusting that family members of those nursing home residents are holding the Manganos responsible. The family members themselves are just as responsible for their loved ones deaths. They were warned of the hurricane and I''ll bet they did everything in their power to save themselves. It is such a shame that they didn''t give their loved ones more thought. If it had been my loved one, I would have made sure they were safe long before I made sure I was.

[clarkinky]

We can all see that this was such a horrible tragedy that should never had happened. The story makes it clear that many parties vested with responsibility did not use it properly (most importantly the St. Bernard Parish Officials, those who maintained and inspected the levies, and even the Army Core of Engineers) and therefore negligence led to such suffering. While my prayers go out to all those who lost loved ones at St. Rita''s and also to the Manganos, I am deeply troubled by the lack of ownership by the leadership of St. Bernard''s Parish and also by those responsible for the poor integrity of the levies. Does anyone know if the court will bring justice to the families and those who lost their lives, by hearing a case against the other parties involved (i.e. St. Bernard officials or the Army Core of Engineers)?

[agodthing]

If I have a friend who wants to commit suicide, and I do everything I can to stop it, am I guilty if they find a way of doing it anyway? This couple isn''t guilty, even though they walked away. Fine. But don''t blame the Federal Government for warning them for 75 years, through the Weather Service about a Cat 5 direct hit, and trying to help them anyway with levies. If you sit on a street long enough, a car might hit you.

The families that put their loved ones into a home are not sentencing them to hard time. There is such a thing called "AMA" Against Medical Advice". If you are so worried that someone else will not care for your loved the way you should, then get them the hell out of there on AMA.Speaking as a former EMT, in New Orleans, during Hurricane Andrew (The Big Bad One prior to Katrina)there are only so many ambulances,too many patients and not enough notification hours to possibly evacuate everyone in the time that is allowed in a 24 hour time frame, that is the usual allotted time of a huricane warning situation. As for the woman, that told her father that she was leaving him there at St.Rita''s, while they saved their own ***** , well, she said goodbye to him, and she is the one that has to deal with the father when they meet again on the other side. While an EMT in N.O. I serviced St.Rita''s and found it to be nice a home for the elderly and infirmed,with no resrvations toward the staff or management. This was not a mandatory evacuation required by the Parish,so St.Rita,s had every right to choose to stay . The governments levee protection system killed these unfortunate victims, not the Mangano''s.

[ptyshaia]

With no Mandatory evcuation in place the family members were responsible to remove their family member from the home not the caregiver. The caregiver was trying to keep the residents as safe as possible during a bad situation, they did not break the levees.
When visiting New Orleans in May of 2005 we were told that if a storm took a direct hit on New Orleans the levees would break because Nutra Rats had burrowed into the levees weakening them to a state of disrepair and the Government knew of the problem at that time.So if you want to point fingers and lay blame the Army Corps of Eng. may be a beginning. Katrina was the straw that broke the weakened levees.

[txrrt]

The number one thing ALL health professionals are taught is that PATIENT SAFETY ALWAYS COMES FIRST! The Manganos should have evacuated all the residents BEFORE the hurricane hit land! The fact that the levies did not hold is a WHOLE SEPERATE ISSUE!! Anyone who lives along the Gulf Coast knows that you evacuate when a Category 5 hurricane is heading toward you! The fact that the city officials neglected to call for a "mandatory" evacuation is irrevelant. The Manganos were running a PUBLIC HEALTH FACILITY for Gods sake!! They should not NEED anyone to TELL them that their patient''s safety is at risk in that type of situation! Why do you think every OTHER health care facility had evacuated? All the finger pointing at the U S Army Corp of Engineers can not change the fact that they DID NOT DO THE RIGHT THING! NO ONE should have been in the building during that hurricane!! Too bad I wasn''t on that jury, because I can surely seperate the two issues! GUILTY AS CHARGED!

[mollyboo635]

There are many things about this story that bothered me. Yes, I feel for the families; though as the daughter of an 83 year old who lives close by, I can''t imagine me leaving until I personally called an ambulance transport and had him moved. But at the same time I don''t think this absolves the Manganos from the responsibility of attempting to evacuate the facility. Even in as much as networking with other facilities (that did evacuate) to find out what the other facilities were going to do. I believe it was a very autonomous decision. I was also bothered by the fact that part of the evacuation plan included a contract from a bus company owned by Salvador Mangano promising to have two buses at ready in the event of an evacuation. Doesn''t that seem somewhat devious?

[mollyboo635]

One more comment came to mind; Mrs. Mangano said she couldn''t "decide whose plug to pull first". I''m sure she is aware that the ambulance transport service is trained to handle these types of situations and have portable life support. Also, a comment was made by Mr. Mangano something to the effect that had the storm not hit they would have been "heroes". Both of these comments seem a little peculiar and contrived. But then again it is easy for me to pass judgement as I sit here safe and sound in my cozy home. I''m sure that God is more benevolent and forgiving than some believe and we hope and pray that His judgement is mercuful for all of us. I will continue to keep everyone involved in my prayers.

[momofek2]

This story bothers me in many different areas! As a nurse I have been in many different situations heartbreaking and joyful memories. However this also tells me there have been a few of you who have not been in healthcare or even present in a facility such as this one, or you would not be makeing comments that it is the loved ones who were to evacuate their families, if you were to vist a nurseing home you would no that 40% of these residents DO NOT have loveing families to make those decisions for them!! It is 100% up to the people, strangers to make a unselfish desison for their life. These residents did not get that.

[drummers4]

I am dumbfounded. I cannot believe that this story even exists. It was a Natural Disaster and they did the best that they knew how. They are after all people too, and elderly at that. Noone expected it to be the way that it was. Are there not enough other cases to use the tax peoples money on. I would be very embarrassed and ashamed if I was that Prosecutor, I would fire her. The finger gets pointed at them and they point it back at a couple who STAYED also...They were just meant to get out. Where or where were the Families of these people if they were so concerned. Yes they have a duty , but how far does that duty go. They were not children and they were not Babies, I just cannot believe that I am even having to have this discussion, It was a Hurricane..... The only people who are leagally obligated to risk lives is the Government, why are they not being Sued. Oh thats right , all the money is going to a War. Snap out of it, it is not always someone fault.

[admrilbubba]

They assumed that evacuation would take place because of they EVAC plan. This is how tragedies like this happening, assuming the home will do right. Let us not forget the social workers who are assigned to each patient? Oh yea, they have too big of a case load, yes I%u2019ve heard it before!

[admrilbubba]

They assumed that evacuation would take place because of they EVAC plan. This is how tragedies like this happening, assuming the home will do right. Let us not forget the social workers who are assigned to each patient? Oh yea, they have too big of a case load, yes I%u2019ve heard it before!

[admrilbubba]

They assumed that evacuation would take place because of they EVAC plan. This is how tragedies like this happening, assuming the home will do right. Let us not forget the social workers who are assigned to each patient? Oh yea, they have too big of a case load, yes I%u2019ve heard it before!

[admrilbubba]

They assumed that evacuation would take place because of they EVAC plan. This is how tragedies like this happening, assuming the home will do right. Let us not forget the social workers who are assigned to each patient? Oh yea, they have too big of a case load, yes I%u2019ve heard it before!

[admrilbubba]

I just watched the program and I am angered! I worked in a similar environment and what the owners said was to gain sympathy from those who don%u2019t know. First they were owners I doubt they changed bed pans, diapers, or bed linen full of urine and feces. Second they made an annual contract with families, county authorities, and JACO or any another licensing authority when they wrote up their evacuation plan, then lied about it. They were obligated to follow that EVAC plan when a hurricane was coming; they lied when they didn%u2019t follow it. They also lied saying they would have to decide who to let die when unplugging life support. How many really were on life support? If any one was on life support they had to be listed in the EVAC Plan as a patient that had extra needs. Life support ambulances are available; they were required to know the phone number for those extra needs. When you own a place like a nursing home or adult care (foster) home you have responsibilities to many people, you must be able to make designs and not rely on a government agency for those decisions. However they did make the decision, it was in the EVAC plan. The families should have asked the point blank question; when, were and how will my family member be moved. Bottom line, the owners knew they were in a bad area for a hurricane and it%u2019s after math. They had an EVAC plan to follow! They were responsible for what took place because they didn%u2019t follow the rules!

[ella419]

This is just a horrible situation, and I am so sorry for the families; but I just can''t help thinking, and I realize that I speak as someone removed from the entire situation, but I would never evacuate the area without taking my family members. I would never leave my family behind-even if I thought they would be taken care of by some facility. I would have gone and taken my family member with me. I could not live with myself otherwise.

[lizziern]

This is horrible, but why didn''t the people that were leaving realize they needed to get their families in nursing homes out of there as well? If they thought it wouldn''t be safe for them, how could they think it was safe for those in St. Rita''s nursing home? I don''t think the residents would have drowned had the levy''s (sp) held.

[mmcc29651]

I could not belive a jury would find them not guilty.
these people falsified a evacuation plan, turned down help offered over & over agian. "who do you pull the plug on" Mrs.Mangano ask most nursing homes especially 35 bed homes don''t have patients on life support Money was all they were worried about aside from the cost of evacuation ( a real plan requires contracts that cost money) medicare & medicaid in most states pay by the day if the resident is elswhere at midnight that nursing home doesn''t get the money in 90% of the cases. What was wrong with the nursing staff rhat none of them attempted to report this and get someone to get them out. As for the families not caring or they would of evacuated there loved one alot of those cases that would not be possible ambulance cost would prohibit it and where do they take them? It was the nursing homes responsibility to see that these residents were kept safe and they failed. I loved the coment T THE END THAT THEY WOULD NOT RUN ANOTHER NURSING HOME WHAT STATE WOULD LICENSE THEM

[jbvksbj]

I was wondering why the story of the Lafon Nursing home in New Orleans which is a few miles away from St. Rita''s was left out of this piece. 22 people died there. Attorney General Foti did not charge the owners of Lafon with any wrongdoing. Want to know why? It is run by an order of Catholic Nuns. The Achdiocese evacuated all the convent nuns, but left the nuns in the nursning home.

the City of New Orleans issured a MANDATORY evacuation order, but Lafon did not evacuate despite the order. The Attorney General did not file charges against Lafon - because it would have been BAD PRESS going after the Church and Nuns.

The people screaming the loudest are the ones you need to look at, the family members - they feel guilty for leaving their relatives and they need to blame someone.

The Manganos did the best they could. They sheltered in place as they had all the other years when a hurricane came. There were other nursing homes that did not evacuate in this city too...ask 48 hours to check into some of those. Let''s see a story on the Lafon Nursing Home.

I feel sorry for everyone involved in this event. Lot''s of good people died. I feel very sorry for the Manganos most of all. They are not evil, they thought they were doing the right thing for their patients and it turned out to be the worst mistake of their lives.

[huber004]

My mother drowned at St. Rita''s, she drowned because the Manganos did not evacuate, they chose not to evacuate because of greed, I sat thru 4 weeks of the criminal trial and so much evidence pointed to that fact.
We were told on Saturday, August 27, 2005 by T.J. Mangano that they were going to evacuate, for us not to worry, the residents would be safe. Did she know all along the plan was to stay? I learned of my mother''s death, thru a post on the internet.
People reading this that think the Manganos are innocent have to realize, many of these residents in nursing homes have no one to care for them. When owners, such as the Manganos, assume the duty of running a nursing home it is no longer about them, but the care of frail, dependent citizens, for which they were well paid. There were 5 special needs residents there. Expert witnesses testified they could have been transported had they left in time. The Manganos failed miserably. Had I known there was no plans to evacuate, I would have gotten my mother and my aunt out.

[huber004]

The State of La., did a great job in providing evident to prove guilt. An asst. admin of another facility overheard Mabel say at a conference "she was not putting her resident thru an evac. Unless a hurricane was at her backdoor, I''m not leaving and waste the money".
May God bless all of the residents who drowned at St. Rita''s.
The only real "mystery" here is how 6 supposedly reasonable citizens could acquit the Manganos? I would like to know the answer to that.

[catme1]

I think the Mangano''s did an excellent job. It came out during court that NO evac was ever ordered for St. Bernard. It was also said on 48 hours. The parish president stated it would cost too much money to call a mandatory evacuation. It was also stated that no one knew who had the right to call an order. I think the blame was placed on who was at fault. THE ARMY CORP OF ENGINEERS!!!!!!

[quitnowplz]

As a former worker at St Rita''s I know the whole truth about huber004 and the "love" she had for her mother. I won''t get into it but she has a TON of GUILT on her mind and she needs to blame it on someone else.

[rowdytexan2]

Hindsight is a fine thing, but during an evacuation, would I have left a parent behind in the hands of a nursing home who possibly had 50 other patients to see to?

No, I would have found some kind of accomodation and taken them with me. My elderly parent becomes my responsibility.

Nursing homes are notorious for eyeing the bottom line. You can''t trust them for squat! If you''re not checking on your loved one every day, then you''re negligent.

[mercyme884]

Whatever happened to just telling the truth and accepting responsibility for your actions.Is all the world full of lies and deceit.The Manganos made a bad decision and a lot of people died. And that is the truth. Why even listen to *** and lies when everyone knows what happened lies directly on the shoulders of the persons making decisions, they are guilty and responsible for the deaths of those people in their care. Whether their intentions were right or wrong they should be judged on the results of those decisions. They were responsible for those thirty-five people being dead.

[tomtomasters]

I would put the blame on sons and daughters who would send their parents to such group dying homes. Nursing Homes in themselves are a crime to human rights, never mind the hurricane and floods. People have the right to stay in their own homes, with nurses hired to care for people in their homes. If they refuse to leave it is their own doing. I say the Mangano''s are guilty of operating a Nursing Home, and of course are responsible, hurricane or not! Nursing Homes should be outlawed in the USA.

[huber004]

to the idiot "quitnowpiz"-what a name! You''re right I do feel a tremendous amount of guilt that I trusted these greedy liars. Its a shame, there probably were good folks working at St. Rita''s, you obviously were not one of them. I feel sorry for you too.

[quitnowplz]

Huber your GUILT has NOTHING to do with leaving your mother there. You know that and I do too. I believe your words were something about they''ll answer when they meet their maker, remember dear you''ll answer too.

[cgr260]

Nice posting sicktwisted0, very mature. I know those two situations are different, I was trying to make a point. The Mangano''s were neglegent, and their neglegence caused people to die.

[cgr260]

Also, there was a reason the Mangano''s did not testify, because they would have had to answer tough questions and been forced to lie to save themselves.

[tellall22]

In this case you cannot put full blame on anyone or specific party. How many hurricanes end up being a "cry wolf" situation? (whether or not you choose to listen to them is your decision) The Mangano''s should have listened and had a better evac policy which family members should be or have been well aware of. So am I saying are family members to blame a little...yes. Having worked at a nursing home you wouldn''t believe how many residents go without any visitors, until they thought they could make a quick buck off them. Come on...the US Army Corp of Eng. they can only do with what the government gives. This was and still is a devistating situation for everyone.

[cannon621]

i just had the chance to watch this story. I noticed that the family that did the most talking (i believe the galadora family was the name) talked about how the dad had a fall and needed nursing home care. Did anyone elswe notice that in one picture they showed the mother with the father and the mother was on oxygen. they were able to evacuate the mother on oxygen but couldn''t take the dad who had a fall? It makes me wonder what really is going on. I''ve always believed that the one who cries the loudest usually has the most regrets. i can''t say that blame should fall strictly on the mangos because even the governor said to congress "if the levees wouldn''t have failed we wouldn''t be here." I believe that their love for the patients was real. you could see the sadness when they spoke of the good times they had with them.

[rockynlinds]

For all of you ignorant people who are saying the blame should be on the relatives.....what part of this don''t you understand..."You''re family members will be alright, we have a plan to evacuate if we need to. They are in good hands." My mom was told that my grandfather would be ok....yes my grandmother was on oxygen and yes she did come with us, but my grandfather was unable to even sit up by himself. My grandmother was not in a home, she was able to live on her own and take care of herself. So think what you want about my family, we know what really happened and that is all that matters.

Lindsey Emmons

[rockynlinds]

cannon621 you think you know but you have no idea....my family''s situation should not come out of your mouth anymore....you don''t know what you are talking about!

[jhj1017]

i noticed that also about the lady on oxygen. I think the dad was sitting up in a wheelchair.

[capecodmerma]

tomtomasters and all the other people who have never worked in a nursing home....until you know all the unbiased facts you can''t make a rational choice. Most people who live in my nursing home have lives much better than they had when they lived at home...it''s a terrible tragedy

[huber004]

Once again idiot "quitnowpiz" - the Manganos lied to all family members by saying they would evacuate and didn''t. Because of that, 35 frail, elderly residents who could not care for themselves drowned. They turned offered help away. You seem to think that the Manganos'' are innocent, how simple are you? Nothing will bring our loved ones back, and we know they are in a better place, but all this episode did was further exploit the obvious, the Manganos put themselves in this spotlight and did nothing but further dig themselves deeper, again I feel sorry for you.

[huber004]

To Lindsey-you''ve got it so right, we''ve got to forgive the ignorant people who are so quick to judge and can''t see past...we were lied to! Any of us would have reacted differently had we known our loved ones were in danger. The way our loved ones died..by drowning, is so unbelievable. It should never have happened, and some people want to defend these monsters, we''ve got to pray for them. We are so much stronger, and have faith..

[huber004]

To CGR260- thank you for your support, I appreciate your common sense and wisdom. I say that on behalf of all of us that lost family members at St. Rita''s, why can''t people see, or want to acknowledge the obvious? 4 weeks in that courtroom, how could anyone see anything else? The comment they made, they will never run another nursing home, duh!

[huber004]

I think I need to say this -most people on this post didn''t know my mother. She was the most loving, unselfish person in the world. She was only 72 years old when she drowned. Her mind worked, but her legs didn''t work too good, she had just been diagnosed with Parkinson''s. She worried about everyone, and trusted everyone. She had no money and always asked me to send her candy and small items that she could share with the residents that she loved. I had a phone in her room and we talked several times a week, I could hear the happiness in her voice when we spoke and she was so proud of me and her only granddaughter, we were her life. She was afraid of water, and the way she died, with the people she trusted, who told me (450 miles away) that they would evacuate, no...I live with that everyday. They lied.
May God bless her soul and her other 34 angels in heaven. If the Manganos can lay their head on a pillow and live with that, then I am not judge their ways.

[shammy0202]

OMG what morons, I have worked in a nursing home for 15 years, this would NEVER happen here!!! Those people could not save themselves. I can not believe they LET this happen to elderly defenseless people. I hope they have pain and suffering every night and day of the rest of their lives, to think they CHOSE the fate of these people. To all family members, God Bless You, My prayers are with you.

[huber004]

Shammy-thank you. Health care for the elderly needs more people like you.

[franchize44]

This is a difficult and sad situation all around. I do think that the Mangano''s should be held responsible in some way. They had an obligation to do everything in their power to save the residents and get them to safety, and I don''t think they truly tried to do that. I also had a problem with the "pulling the plug" comment. There are ways to transport patients who need oxygen, medicine, etc and do so safely. Having to transport the patients is not an immediate death sentence- as evidenced by another nursing home that evacuated and only lost one person. ONE. As opposed to 35. So I do think they need to be held responsible in some way. I also have a problem with those that blame the Army Corp for the entire disaster. Nothing irks me more than that. Yes, they could have and should have built the levy better. But this is mother nature here! No matter how good something is built, nothing is foolproof against nature. There are no tornado proof houses either. If it rains hard enough and the winds blow hard enough.... things get destroyed. By all means, get on the Army Corps for some of the blame. But have a little respect for mother nature and what it can do to our country. There is no foolproof way to stave off every natural disaster.

[shammy0202]

To the person who thinks nursing homes should be out lawed, First of all it is a VERY difficult and heart wrenching situation when the decision has to be made to put a loved one in a nursing home. They are put in our care, they trust us to keep their loved ones safe and free from harm. In this case this did not happen and it was the owners CHOICE to make the decision they did. Can you imagine the residents being of sound mind and knowing they will die by drowning? There was and is NO excuse for this.

[caroline200]

I think it''s really easy for people to judge the Mangano''s because THEY WEREN''T THERE for their own parents when they needed them the most. This couple cared for their patients and were given the awesome responsiblity of having to decide whether to stay or to go. In hindsight, they should have evacuated. Had they evacuated and there was no need, how many of these families would STILL be angry for them "jumping the gun" and risking their parents lives? The Manganos were in a lose-lose situation.

Katrina brought out the worst in so many people and the children of these patients need someone to blame. The Manganos seem to be a nice couple who did not intentionally kill anyone. Why pick on them when there are so many out there that intentionally hurt others??