Woman Locked Up for 70 Years After Being Falsely Accused of Stealing 13p
Cheshire: Two brothers who believed their sister was long dead have discovered her by chance in an institution. Their sister, Jean Gambell, was 'certified' and institutionalised in 1937 by a doctor who believed she had stolen 13p from his surgery.
The money was later discovered but the decision to institutionalise the young woman was never reversed. When the brothers went to see her, now 85-years-old and deaf, she remembered them both by name and hugged them.
"They basically locked her up and threw away the key and she was stuck in the system. She just got moved from one institution to another. What a waste of a poor, innocent girl’s life," said her brother David.
She may not have gone in there for the right reasons, but if she was sane she wouldn't have been in there for 70 years...
and typical news reporting 'Look what she missed out on'... because she's stayed in a prison cell for 70 years with no information from the outside world.
It is a shame for her, etc. but stop sensationalising everything!!!
Several volunteers turned up at psyciatric centres claiming they were insane and needed help. They faked the tests to get in, it took them months to prove they were sane and get back out, and these volunteers were perfectly normaly psyciastry students.
Not even stole 13p. It was later found. So she was "put away" for nothing. Maybe the doc had something against her? What kind of person would accuse and then find it and not try to get her out of there?
denying that she stole the money could have been cause for them to believe she was mentally unstable, if they took the doctors word as truth. It's pretty sad really.
"How did none of the staff, in 70 years, not notice that she was sane?"
You have someone who claims that she was put here by a vindictive doctor who thought she stole a small amount of money. Her medical records say she's paranoid. Do you really think someone will notice? It's likely that she learned quick enough that there would be less 'treatment' if she didn't show 'evidence of her paranoia'.
"She may not have gone in there for the right reasons, but if she was sane she wouldn't have been in there for 70 years..."
That is a very naive view. For the lifetime of the doctor who had her committed any attempt to free her would come up against his 'expert' testimony. He could not admit she was sane without facing terrible concequences himself. After a while the 'treatments', the changing world, and the almost complete isolation from sane people takes it's toll and leaves a person unable to function in the real world. It is quite possible to believe she was in the system for that long. Incidentally do you have any idea how many people were institutionalised for things like being an unwed mother and how recently it occurred? We have some mental instutions with some dark, dark secrets. Here's another article I just grabbed quickly.
I think you fail to realize how mental institutions worked in the early 20th century. These institutions were not designed to "make people better" they were designed to remove the unwanted from society and keep them locked up where they would have no interaction with the public.
As the article states, doctors could literally sign a piece a paper and you would disappear into the system. Hopefully you wouldn't end up in an institution that utilized the "modern" methods of "curing" insanity -- elcroshock theray, lobodimization, or worse. Protesting your sanity was just seen as delusional outbursts and triggered more rounds of "treatment."
By the time the system got better this lady was probably already a bit wonky from all that she was subjected to.
In no way am I condoning this gross lack of respect for fellow human beings, but remember that back in 1937 13p was sizable amount of money. Obviously it doesn't make this any better, but perhaps it makes the original accusation slightly less of a farce.
If that same doctor is alive? I would love to kick him in his arthritic knee if he is the low evil pig; sorry this has just infuriated me reading this story!
"but remember that back in 1937 13p was sizable amount of money."
um, not really. Adjusted to today's value it was only 4.65 pounds, or for the international readers, about 6.64 euros, 1088 yen, 70.5 chinese yuan, or 9.41 US dollars.
So she went away to a mental institution for 70 years for 10 bucks that she didn't even steal, from a doctor whom she worked for.
The cynic in me says the guy raped her or something, then put her away to keep her from ratting him out.
They should make her insanely rich so she can live out the rest of her life. Once she dies though the rest of the money goes back to the government, etc.
She's lucky she even remembers her brothers though because of the above stated. Mental Institutions in the early 20th century were literally hell on earth.
Good thing she is finally reunited, but to live in a place like that for so long, for no reason, is horrible.
"Jean had a stroke after meeting her brothers, believed to have been sparked by the shock of the reunion. She is said to be recovering." When I read that, it made me sad. :(
Things like this shouldn't happen, her life is ruined and nothing can pay her enough for it, not even close. I hope she can life the rest of here life without any problems and i hope she enjoys the years she has left.
...they were terrible. The study AQ cites was groundbreaking in revealing the problems in proving oneself sane in an insane place, but it happened far too late for this poor soul.
