Man with Down syndrome is going for the record; He’s 80
September 3rd, 2008
From the Waseca County [MN] News:
Bert Holbrook Jr., 80, of Waseca County, Minnesota, has been submitted for a Guinness World Record as the oldest living person with Down Syndrome.
When Holbrook was born in 1929, the life expectancy for people with Down syndrome was nine years old. Most families placed children with Down syndrome in institutions, and health care for them was minimal.
But Holbrook was raised by his parents at home and helped them in the family’s meat and grocery store where he “socialized with everyone,” said Pat Foley, his nurse at Elm North, an intermediate care facility where he lives today.
(Waseca County News photo: Holbrook shows a look of surprise at his birthday party.)
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September 4th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
thanks for publishing this. i am still dealing with people who think that people with Down syndrome die at 30 of their “condition,” when in reality, it is the ones who don’t receive good care who die younger than others. That includes those who cannot care for themselves. Whereas, the ones who receive good care, usually at their parents’ loving home, or have been taught how to care well for themselves, who live longer.