Picture captures heartbreak of couple married for 62 years forced to live in separate care homes
Family members take to Facebook in a desperate plea for help
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Your support makes all the difference.An elderly couple who have been married for 62 years have been forced to separate and live in different care homes.
Wolfram Gottschalk, 83, and his wife, Anita, 81, got married in 1954 in Dusseldorf, Germany, before moving to Canada in search of a better life.
The couple from Surrey, British Columbia, have to live in separate care homes as there are none close by that can accommodate them both.
Whenever the pair get a chance to visit each other they both burst into tears, CBC reported.
Granddaughter Ashley Kaila Baryik took to Facebook to appeal to anyone who can help.
“After 62 years together in marriage they have been separated for 8 months due to backlogs and delays by our health care system, whom have the power to have my grandpa moved to the same care facility as my grandmother," she said.
“They deserve this! Financially, physically and emotionally exhausted, me and my family are begging for your help my friends.”
She added that her grandfather sat by the window hoping his wife was coming while calling out her nickname, "little mouse", according to the Daily Mail.
Mr Gottschalk has been recently diagnosed with cancer and also suffers from dementia. Family members are worried about his condition worsening before the situation is resolved.
A spokeswoman for Fraser Health Authority, which manages care homes in the area, said it had been working to reunite the couple.
"We certainly understand how heart breaking this is for the family," spokeswoman Tasleem Juma told CTV News. "It’s upsetting for us as well."
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