The search for an elderly man with Alzheimer's ended happily Wednesday morning as he was returned to his family. Questions still remain however about why he went missing in the first place.
After more than 24 hours, Truman Cunningham was back at home early Wednesday after being found at Front and Berks Streets in Kensington around 12:30 a.m.
He was last seen Monday night leaving the emergency room at Temple University Hospital after he possibly threatened himself and others, according to his family.
The hospital said he left against medical advice.
Credit: Family Photo
Cunningham's family says he is suffering from early stages of Alzheimer's, requires heart medication and is in need of surgery for cancer. His daughter Cheryl Rollerson brought him to Temple Hospital Monday morning for testing.
During the tests, Rollerson said her father suffered chest pains and was taken to the emergency room. She then had to go home after eight hours but called the emergency room every hour to check on him. At 11 p.m., Rollerson claims nurses told her that Cunningham had left after appearing agitated and telling them he would blow himself up with a bomb.
"I said 'why didn't you call us?' And they said 'he signed himself out,'" said Rollerson.
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"He was acting irrational," said Cunningham's son Keith Rollerson. "If that was me and I said I had a bomb, they would have slammed me on the floor and put handcuffs on me. You let an 87-year-old man walk out the door!"
Temple University Hospital spokeswoman Rebecca Harmon told NBC10 that Cunningham "came in for treatment and left against medical advice. We do take this matter very seriously. We are not able to share any further details due to HIPPA Laws."
Cunningham, still wearing his hospital robe and bracelet, was found by police near a park in Kensington Wednesday morning. He then returned to his North Philadelphia home that he rarely leaves. He claims while he remembers one of his daughters bringing him to the hospital Monday morning, he doesn't remember leaving.
"To tell you the truth, I don't remember getting up and going anywhere," said Cunningham. "I don't remember coming out of the hospital."
"To me, Temple was not caring enough," said Cunningham's daughter Patricia Rogers. "To let an 87-year-old man leave at 11 o'clock at night, that was just heartless."
While grateful that Cunningham was found, his family is considering legal action against Temple Hospital. Bioethicist Art Caplan says however that even if Cunningham was mentally unstable, the hospital could not legally hold him against his will.
"Your rights are that you can leave unless someone has said you are incompetent," said Caplan. "Unless there's time to get a psychiatric evaluation and a declaration of incompetency, there's not much that medical institutions can do."
Family members also say Cunningham may have somehow broken his hand. However, they decided to take him to a different hospital for treatment.
