Börje Salming was denied home care for a long time – despite his ALS.
Now his daughter, Bianca Salming, is strongly criticizing Swedish healthcare.
– It was a shock, she says in P4 Extra.
It was during the autumn that the whole of Sweden and the hockey world followed Börje Salming’s fight against the disease ALS with dismay. Börje Salming quickly lost the ability to speak, and was forced to be tube-fed during the autumn. Despite this, the family was denied the help they felt Börje needed for a long time.
“It was horrible”
It took a long time before the family The family was assigned a personal assistant, as he was over 65 years old. It took until the beginning of November to get approval for ASIH (advanced healthcare in the home). The Salming family were sometimes critical of the fact that care was initially denied, and that too much responsibility was left to Börje’s immediate family.
Börje Salming passed away at the end of November, and all of Sweden mourned one of Sweden’s greatest athletes of all time. Now his daughter, Bianca Salming, opens up about the terrible period when the family was denied care, and at the same time directs criticism at how the Swedish care system handled everything around her father.
– It was terrible, but also so strange. There was so much new that you got to experience, which you had never been part of before. In retrospect, I have been shocked by… I have always had an image – and it is certainly much better than in many other countries – that Swedish healthcare would be so very good and the best ever. But for me it was a shock that there were so many things that didn’t go as they should, she says in “P4 Extra – the guest”.
READ MORE: Mats Sundin’s strong confession about Börje Salming’s last days – and emotional words from his wife
Great criticism
Bianca Salming goes on to say that there was constant concern that the family was doing everything right, when care was not available.
– I remember that I was a lot with my father’s wife Pia at home and you could stand and look at each other and just say to each other: “How can we stand and do all this? We hardly know if we are doing the right thing, taking the right medicine.” We stand and crush and this is going into his tube… It can’t be something we’re unsure about if we’re doing it right. That’s where a lot felt strange and wrong, she says.
Bianca Salming wants to highlight the problem, as many are in a similar position – and not at all the same capacity to actually be able to help their sick loved ones.
It is very difficult to get home health care and it took a long time. There were very strange rules, but now my sister and stepmother are much more aware and had contact with them, but there was so much that needed to be approved. And then we were still in a lot of trouble, and struggled to get just home care. But I think of everyone who doesn’t have the time or energy, or can be at home. What do you do then? Then you have to leave the sick person at home and go to work, then there is no one there.
READ MORE: Beautiful memory of Börje Salming – son Anders reveals the fine tradition with the father: “Always laughter”