PhOtOs-Woman 'Lost' in Mental Institutions for 50yrs Dies
Woman who was Lost in Mental Institutions for FIVE DECADES Before She was Tracked Down
by her Filmmaker Brother Dies aged 59 - After Just 10 Years of a Normal Life with her Loved-Ones
A woman who was lost in Oregon's mental institutions for nearly five decades before she was tracked down by her filmmaker brother has died aged 59. Molly Daly, who was the subject of an award-winning documentary, 'Where's Molly?', in 2007, succumbed to respiratory failure after a visit to the emergency room on Friday, her brother said. Jeff Daly produced and directed the documentary about his sister and Oregon's mental institutions. He was by her side as she passed away He said that her death came nearly 10 years to the date that he reunited with his sister, who had been sent away by his parents when she was two and he was six. http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/...92_306x423.jpg http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/...82_306x423.jpg Loss: Molly Daly, left as a child with her brother and right with him in 2010, was lost for nearly 50 years in mental institutions before he tracked her down in 2004. Molly has now passed away http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/...71_634x418.jpg Missed: After Molly, right, was taken away, Jeff would often ask for her - but was told to forget about her 'Everybody that knew Molly agreed that our lives were enriched from having the opportunity to share her love, laughter and friendship,' he said. 'And Molly asked for so little in return - a kiss and a hug, sing her a song or just simply take her for a stroll in her wheelchair, or as she called it, "a walk'um".' She had been born with apparently mild disabilities, including a lazy eye and a clubfoot, but she was sent away after the impediments troubled her mother, who wanted to keep up good appearances. One day, the little girl vanished and she was put in what was then known as Oregon Fairview Home, which has since closed. Whenever Jeff Daly asked his mother, 'Where's Molly?', she would tell him not to ask, and he soon forgot about her. http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/...23_634x529.jpg Old days: Molly, center, only had minor disabilities - including a lazy eye and a clubfoot - but was sent to a mental institution when she was two because her mother, right, wanted to keep up good appearances http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/...84_306x423.jpg http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/...25_306x423.jpg Forgotten: Molly is pictured aged five, and as a teenager after being sent away to the home http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/...28_634x391.jpg New home: Molly was sent to 'the Oregon State Institution for the Feeble-Minded', pictured But his father continued to visit his sister. After staff told him not to return because Molly would get too upset when he left, he returned repeatedly under the guise of a clown. The visits eventually stopped and Molly became institutionalized, only inflicted with the disabilities she portrayed because she was brought up in such surroundings, her brother said Jeff only began thinking about her again in 1994 when he rekindled with a childhood sweetheart, Cindy, who asked him how his little sister was doing. He was ashamed that he had no idea where she was. After he and Cindy married and his parents passed away, they began looking for Molly. http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/...69_306x423.jpg http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/...97_306x423.jpg Family: Her father continued to visit her but was told not to come back because it upset Molly so much - so he only returned in a clown costume. Jeff went looking for his sister when his parents, right, died in 2004 http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/...39_634x439.jpg Close: Jeff Daly said he felt guilty for not seeing her but they went on to develop a great relationship http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/...72_634x427.jpg Support: Jeff sought out his sister with the help of his childhood-sweetheart-turned-wife, Cindy, left In 2004, they discovered a secret file in his father's belongings with the contact details for her new home in Hillsboro and promptly found out where she was. They reunited days later. 'I wasn't sure what to expect,' he told CBS. 'But the first time I saw her, it was pain. I felt pained that I hadn't seen her. I knew that I was wrong.' But he rebuilt a relationship with her, visiting her frequently. 'He has, as one person said it, "filled a hole in his soul." And it really did,' his wife Cindy told CBS. In his email to the Oregonian, Jeff Daly said he was glad for the decade he did get with his sister. 'Now we will remember how many lives my little sister was able to touch, how many families she helped to re-unite and how fortunate we were to be able to know and learn from her,' he wrote. Man searches for sister who was lost in mental institutions http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/...61_636x358.jpg |
All times are GMT. The time now is 23:42. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
SEO by vBSEO 3.5.2