Eleanor Welsch (Part 2)

Mother of Patty Welsch, whose parents filed the landmark Federal suit over lack of care at Cambridge State Hospital

The Cambridge Experience

(Run time 1:33)

Cambridge was the only place available, and we left her there and we would go up for visits, and the County fella that was doing the… that entered her, he didn't want us to make frequent visits. He said that would be upsetting her.

Well, that didn't go well with my husband. He wanted to go up and see Patty as often as we could. And, as time went on, we could tell that she was being heavily medicated, and she would come home or we would see her with bruises or she had fallen. Her tooth was half broken off, and she would be… oh probably have a black eye.

At one time we did notice that she was in a bed with a top on top. She could not get out of the bed. They had her confined right to the bed.

Well, we brought her home, then, for a while, and we would do that as often as we could. Things didn't work out here at home, as usual. So, back again we would take Patty to Cambridge. It was… it was horrible.

When she would see the water tower going to Cambridge, Patty knew right where she was going and she would get so frustrated and cry, and there was nothing else to do.