Wrongful Death

Recovering from her mother's wrongful death at the hands of neglectful nursing home staff, Heather T. Edgell writes this heart-wrenching memoir to bring awareness to the ongoing realities of medical malpractice. Janice F. Powell was born in August of 1942 to a loving, Christian family. Her parents, Joseph and Olga, owned a small farm and a store, where Janice learned business skills that came in handy when she later owned establishments such as a florist shop and an arcade. Known for her beautiful voice, her love of God and church, and her kind disposition, Janice was a friend to everyone she met. Unfortunately, in February of 2016, Janice experienced a fall due to an unknown medical condition. This led to a stay in a nursing home where Janice was continually mistreated. Her daughters found cuts on her back and saw her wait for hours without being changed or cleaned. Janice was left alone and unsupervised in dangerous locations, had food and water withheld due to neglect, was sent to the hospital numerous times due to dehydration, and ultimately died from a horrific, but easily preventable bed sore. Heather T. Edgell's posthumous memoir for her mother, Wrongful Death is both a beautiful testimony of Janice's life and an outcry against medical malpractice everywhere. It is filled with sweet memories of a wonderful life, including all the relationships, career ventures, setbacks, and successes that made Janice's time on Earth memorable. It also describes in great detail examples of medical mistreatment and neglect that her mother faced. Heather hopes that, in publishing this book, readers will recognize a failing system and will join the fight to bring justice to those who are suffering.