Johann Franchi-Ingarra trembles as she talks about that cold and snowy day in January when her beloved mother went missing in Vaughan’s Maple community, just more than five years ago.
Jenny Genoveffa Franchi was 76 at the time and lived with Alzheimer’s disease. The hard-working Italian immigrant who arrived in Canada in 1954 at Pier 21 in Halifax, Nova Scotia quickly learned English, built a successful business, had lots of hobbies, and three children whom she adored.
“She was an angel, not a person, she’s the closest thing to perfection that I’ve ever known and she meant the world to me,” Franchi-Ingarra told NewmarketToday at a March 5 York Regional Police event to raise awareness of Project Lifesaver, a program that combines radio technology with trained search-and-rescue officers to quickly find vulnerable people who go missing.
Franchi passed away Jan. 28, 2020 when she was 81, but her daughter said her mother wasn’t the same after the ordeal of getting lost and she took a turn for the worst.
The senior had wandered away from a regional transportation vehicle that was taking her home from nearby Maple Health Centre on Keele Street the afternoon of Jan. 15, 2015. Franchi-Ingarra said the driver didn’t realize her mother wasn’t in the vehicle as the client dropoffs continued.
It wasn’t until about an hour later that York Regional Police were called to report the woman missing. Franchi-Ingarra later learned that her mother had knocked on doors in the surrounding neighbourhood, calling out her daughter’s name, and at least one resident didn’t answer the knocking out of fear from recent home invasion robberies in the area.
“I met with that person years later by coincidence, and she apologized to me for turning my mother away at 8:30 p.m. That was really hard,” she said. “She said she was sorry. My mother knew her address, she knew where she lived, she just couldn’t find her way back home.”
Franchi had a heart attack that night, and she eventually made her way inside an unlocked vehicle, where its owner found her the next morning.
“Her little ankle was bleeding from the blisters from the back of her boots. Her hands were frozen,” Franchi-Ingarra sadly recalled. “She was found by a very nice gentleman, he warmed her up, he gave her tea, he took very good care of her.”
It wasn’t until her mother was found that Franchi-Ingarra realized that no one was able to save her, not even modern technology. Franchi-Ingarra had placed a GPS (global positioning system) bracelet on her mother’s arm, but at the time, the GPS device’s battery wasn’t reliable.
A Project Lifesaver wristband went on Franchi after she was found, which had involved an overwhelming community effort and search by York Regional Police.
“Honestly, this is the worst thing that could ever happen to someone,” Franchi-Ingarra said. “Talking about it right now, my hands are shaking. The police were very helpful, very comforting, and that helped quite a bit. But the Project Lifesaver bracelet would have saved her sooner.”
“People don’t realize it, but we are going to have a tsunami with Alzheimer’s,” she said. “I can’t believe that today, when people are diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer’s, that they’re not wearing this bracelet automatically. It should be a no-brainer.”
“I only cut the bracelet off her wrist the day before she died because it was interfering with her IV and she wasn’t walking anymore,” she said. “I know the story of a gentleman, whose dementia was advanced. He went missing in one of the local hospitals and he was found three years later, a skeleton, in a boiler pipe. He made his way into the pipe but couldn’t make his way out. If he had the bracelet on, they might have found him.”
Another Project Lifesaver participant, Nicolette Kadiri, said she joined the program in 2017 after her mother was diagnosed with dementia. As dementia progressed, her mother was exit-seeking and wandering, which are characteristics of the condition.
“It came to the point where she was wandering and getting lost and it was taking hours to find her,” Kadiri said. “In the beginning, it started with her going to frequented places, doughnut shops and gas stations, but it came to a point where she was getting lost for long periods of time.”
Kadiri joined the program and said one incident, in particular, shows its benefits.
“There was a point in time where my mom and dad were at an appointment. In the short period of time where my dad spoke with the receptionist, mom had wandered off, got on a bus and travelled to Toronto,” she said. “York Regional Police were able to find her because she had on the Project Lifesaver bracelet and she was returned home safely.”
“I shudder to think what would have happened had she not been wearing the bracelet, how far she would have gone. She didn’t know where she was,” Kadiri said, noting that the program provides peace of mind for family when a loved one goes missing.
Rosetta Urlando, who has been a Project Lifesaver participant for 12 years, said she will never forget the day her eight-year-old son’s seatbelt buckle didn’t work, and he wandered off.
“His plan was to put his eight-year-old fingers in through the buckle and unbuckle his seatbelt as I was bringing my two younger children into the house,” Urlando said. “It did not take long for him to devise his plan to escape. We had a run of about eight years of my son figuring out ways to wander at any time of the day and night, and at any place. It is quite traumatic just to think of the situations he would have gotten himself into had we not been able to provide him with the response and support through York Regional Police to help us find him.”
Over the years, the Urlando family has used Project Lifesaver about 20 times to find the boy.
“I’m glad to be here on a positive note, and not on the negative note, so I was happy not to be a statistic on that side,” she said. “There was a time I simply could not take my eyes off him. He would grab a chair and prop it up against the neighbour’s fence and hop over, knowing that my gates were locked.”
In 2006, York Regional Police became one of the first municipal police services in Canada to use the Project Lifesaver program. Its primary purpose is to provide a timely emergency response to save lives and reduce potential injury for adults and children with a propensity to wander due to a cognitive condition.
The program combines radio technology with coordinated police response to locate wandering and disoriented loved ones.
Citizens enrolled in Project Lifesaver wear a small transmitter on their wrist or ankle that emits an individualized radio frequency signal.
If they go missing, the caregiver notifies York Regional Police and frontline officers are able to respond with trained search-and-rescue officers to the wanderer’s last known whereabouts, said Sgt. Chris Palmer, of the force’s community engagement and well-being bureau.
“The first responders will then use the person’s individualized frequency to locate their position and rescue them,” he said.
The program is for people with cognitive conditions such as Alzheimer’s, dementia, or autism spectrum disorder, and also offers the services of a York police social worker who will work with the client to devise strategies to prevent someone from going missing in the first place.
But in the event they do go missing, York police provide the search-and-rescue services required to locate them.
Project Lifesaver statistics show the average time it takes to locate a client is about 25 minutes from the start of the search, Palmer said.
“When we search for these vulnerable clients, time is crucial,” he said. “And the search involving someone who is not a Project Lifesaver participant may put their safety in jeopardy due to the extended time before we are able to locate them. The cost of emergency services involved with a prolonged search can also be substantial.”
There are currently 47 people in York Region participating in Project Lifesaver.
The cost of the transmitter is $500; it resembles a watch and can be worn on a wrist or ankle. York Regional Police encourage anyone in the community who are interested in the program to reach out, even if the cost appears prohibitive.
To be eligible for the program, potential participants must live in York Region, be living with a cognitive impairment that may place them at risk of wandering, be monitored and live with a caregiver or in the non-secure section of a facility, not be involved in un-escorted activities that would increase the risk of wandering, and not be operating a vehicle.
There is also a complementary program known as the vulnerable person registry, which allows for improved police response to vulnerable people who have cognitive, physical, intellectual, developmental, disability, or other conditions that may place them at an increased risk of misadventure and who may require assistance from emergency services, Palmer said.
“When our officers encounter a vulnerable person, often there are important things they need to know in order to ensure everyone’s safety,” he said. “Our vulnerable population sometimes has challenges communicating with police officers in uniform and it can be a very stressful experience.”
The registry makes essential personal information available to responding officers, such as a tendency to wander, inability to communicate, fascination or attractions to dangerous locations such as water or construction sites, and unusual social responses like fear of strangers or aggressive nature.
Family members can also have loved ones carry a vulnerable person identity card that includes information such as communication challenges, emergency contacts, medical information, to help give vulnerable people a voice.
To be eligible for the registry, the vulnerable individual must live in York Region, attend school, work or otherwise regularly visit the region.
There is no cost, and 1,083 persons are currently registered.
“If any member of the public believes they have located a missing person, someone who seems confused and can’t remember where they are heading, contact police as soon as possible, stay with them and move them to a safe public space like a coffee shop to help them feel safe,” Palmer said.
For more information on Project Lifesaver, call 905-830-0303, ext. 6697 or visit here.
