Pretoria elderly woman found tied up to a bench at Mamelodi Hospital

A family is outraged after they discovered their grandmother tied up and lying on the floor at the Mamelodi regional hospital on Wednesday, Rekord East reports.

Martha Marais (76) was found with her hands tied behind her back tied to a steel bench in a hospital hallway.

Marais was still fine when the family left her at the hospital the same afternoon, they say.

However, when the family went to visit only a few hours later, they say they found her on the floor tied to the bench.

“My grandmother wants to go home. She is very traumatized,” Claudine Marais told the media.

Claudine said the nurse on duty told her mother that Martha was “hysterical and pulled out her drip and [they] had to restrain her”.

“My grandmother fell sick on Monday and started vomiting. She could not keep anything in when we took her to the clinic,” said Claudine.

“The nurse at the clinic treated my grandmother and referred her to the Mamelodi hospital because she was not eating. Her eyes were also diluted.”

One of Marais’ family members took her to the Mamelodi regional hospital that same afternoon. Martha was reportedly sent for X-rays later the day.

“No one deserves to be treated like that, it is inhumane. You don’t do this to a person. She is an elderly person. There is absolutely no excuse.”

Due to Marais’ health condition, she is still in hospital and has since been moved to a ward.

Hospital spokesperson Aobakwe Selebogo confirmed the incident.

Selebogo said it was being investigated and that the hospital will issue a statement.