A touching story has revealed how a disabled man was forced to drink his own urine after he was left without food or water for four days.
It has been revealed how a desperate stroke sufferer left without food or water for five days cut his wrists with the glass shards of a picture frame after resorting to drinking his own urine to survive.
According to a report by The Mirror, the disabled man, known only as Mr Cummins, had been treated at Southend Hospital after taking a tumble from his wheelchair.
But things became bad after an ambulance crew dropped him of at home in Southend, then forgot to inform his family or the carers in charge of looking after him four days a week.
Four days later, his sister Dawn Lord, 60, made the shocking discovery that the man had survived by drinking his own urine. He was found to have been covered in his own urine, faeces and blood.
The 65-year-old, who is barely able to move due to severe arthritis and the effects of a stroke, was so severely dehydrated that he resorted to drinking his own urine.
It was also learnt that the man in a desperate bid, had used shards of glass from a picture frame to try to slash at his arms and legs in a bid to kill himself.
It was gathered that things would not have been so bad if Carers from Brooks Care and Nursing Service, based in Wickford, Essex, who normally visit him four times a day, had been informed that the man had been sent home. But, they weren't informed and believed he was still in hospital.
Mr Cummins had been left in his bed by ambulance crews who failed to give him his Careline alarm, leaving him helpless. The family had not even been told of his fall and hospital admission - let alone his discharge.
Southend Hospital is working alongside Southend Careline, the East of England Ambulance Service and Brooks Care and Nursing Service to investigate how the blunder happened.
An ambulance service spokesman said: "We attended the address on May 14 and a patient transport service ambulance took the patient back home on May 15.
"We'd like to apologise to the patient and his family for the distress clearly felt this week; on hearing about this situation, we have made contact with them to learn more about what happened and to investigate it further."
Brooks Care has not responded to an invitation to comment.