True Stories From The Asylum
I really want to get a balance between so called positive and negative stories of Willow Court along with just day to day information.
Up until now I think negative stories of Willow Court far outweigh some of the positives. I hope that by uploading some of these stories it might change some people’s perceptions.
Hopefully over time I will get more of these accounts and produce portfolio to share with everyone.
If you have a story, experience or information you want to share please contact us. You can remain anonymous.
(These accounts are unedited)
Account I- Royal Derwent Hospital, Jenny N (Family)
My mother went in RDH the 70′s and spent time there until the mid 90′s when she passed away in RHH.
She was allowed to go out once a week and go to the local store to buy things. She used to get teased a lot by the public – mostly young people who just didn’t get what schizophrenia was all about. She didn’t talk to herself or anything like that – she just insisted all her life that she was being watched by the CIA.
It was a little strange how they handled patients up there…. if she was taking her medication without a fuss for a couple of weeks they would then deem her to be well enough to go back into the community and they sent her the Order or St Basil (before it was too demolished).
One time they did house her on site – in one of the units there. There is a row of units that are still there that patients used to be housed in.
I am not sure who my real father was but it appears he may have been a staff member at the hospital.
What is interesting is my first birth certificate said “… Fathers name… not necessary”.
They even stole me from her literally one day. A Sister came into her home and literally stole me while she was busy. Then she rang the police and the police escorted mum to the department and she got me back. The department tried to force her into adoption but she refused and insisted that I be fostered with the plan that my foster parents can have me like their own on the condition that she gets to see me regularly – and that’s the way it went. I am now 30… So many years have passed.
Mum loved those romance books, the tacky ones! She read a lot as it filled her time. Sadly before she became ill she was a fully qualified hairdresser who was doing really well. Over the years I have by chance met a few older people that used to go and get their hair cut by her. A nurse told me many stories of the horrible way patients were treated up there. Often mum used to have lots of bruises on her – she always said it was the nurses so that’s sad. She described electric shock therapy to me. It sounds just awful, the one thing it did do to her was make her quiet and glazed – she had little capacity to talk or even move her body afterwards. How they hell they thought it worked I don’t know?
Apparently there is an underground chamber where the electric shock therapy was done. Mum was in the wards with the pits so it must have been ward 7 because 10 I don’t remember ever going to. She said that the chamber is underground.
I remember the faces of people when I went into the ward. There was one older man that stood out – he was skinny and had grayish hair and a beard – in his 40′s I would guess. He seemed like he shouldn’t be there, he seemed so normal but just a vegetable like he had way to much electric shock therapy. It was sad because all the patients were dressed in white and just hung around like zombies. They looked so bored. I am not even sure if they were really allowed outside because I never ever saw anyone go out there and the nurse I know said it was very rare for them to go outside. There was a lot of moaning and people there looked like they were in great mental pain. The mix of people too was odd… older people and younger people. The younger girl rocking herself in the corner looked totally out of place… she was so much younger than all the rest up there – it was mostly males. But I know the mix of people was also dangerous.
One thing I also remember is hearing lots of yelling when I used to visit her in the visiting room. There were always nurses running around frantically often with straight jackets in hand. It was a sad and spooky place. I don’t think it was based on treatment as they tried to make is sound like – it was just containment – get ‘these’ type of people off the streets and lick them up and make them quiet.
Being up there in the ward will no doubt bring back memories I forgot about.
Although it is sad I am very relieved that my birth mother passed away quickly and peacefully – her life just wasn’t a life and she just didn’t cope out in the community so it would have been horrible for her to continue to live.
The bit I get stuck on is that her illness came on so quickly. One minute she was well and living a great life and then the next she was a maximum security patient and very unwell with the worst form of schizophrenia. She did say that she was poisoned by someone and that is what sent her into her state???? I am not sure what to think really. I have heard from former nurses up there that there were some very strange goings on – it has been said that some patients were used as experiments and a range of treatments both electric and medicinal were used on them. It would explain to me why mum went from well to unwell. I did meet her sister once; she said that mum was a happy person and normal until ‘that day’. But she died before I had a chance to find out what she meant by ‘that day”.
Her family disowned her and never visited her from the day she was admitted up there – in fact her sister said they were scared to go there- .
I have a feeling that mum won’t be seen – if there is such things as ghosts (which I am open to and have perhaps seen some) I am not sure mum would be a ghost – she was ready to move on from this life.
Jenny N
Account II- Royal Derwent Hospital, Ex-Staff
These stories are both from ex-staff at RDH. I worked on ward 10 for a full 3 monthly rotation … it housed basically male burnt out alcoholics, some victims of measles vaccination gone awry, and punch drunk boxers and such … middle aged and beyond … ward 7 was presumably the female equivalent … i didn’t work there … wards 1 and 2 were for the true hard core criminally insane men and women … I remember stories of Reggie baker I think it was who ripped a several inches thick plate steel door between the two wards off with his bare hands in an escape … before medication the royal derwent was like a Dickensian bedlam… I remember a chap on ward 1 with the face of an angel and beautiful manners … normal as you and I … who’d killed all his family … i remember my first day as student nurse arriving at a middle aged women’s long term lock up ward and being confronted by a lady who displayed her finger to me (half of it was missing) and told me to read up her file … she basically ran much of the ward, very capable with periodic strange bouts, but before medication she had killed 2 people inside the hospital (one staff one patient)… the finger had been worn down rubbing it against a sandstone wall in an airing yard, being hosed down after one in an endless string of violent episodes … under medication she was just a middle aged capable matron who had been locked away for then 37 years … fascinating place …
I worked there for a couple of years in the late 70′s It was Ward 5 that I worked on. At the time of the ‘happenings’ it was distressing, although the staff in other areas, were saying the only spirits we were seeing were the ones in the bottles!. But it was so funny when they were trying to send these particular staff to work on Ward 5 after the incident, they wouldn’t go – they were chickens!!!
I continued working there on the night-shift with a guy called Dan, and I can tell you it was real. We were frequented by visitors all hours of the night, especially the little boy with the bowl haircut – dressed in clothes of the 1800′s. I called Mrs A the supervisor over, because the toilets were being flushed one night in a day room, at the complete opposite side of the dormitories. She witnessed it, so from there, it was investigated. We had sceptics come from as far as Adelaide, but nothing could be found. It got so bad on that ward, that Management closed the ward down and boarded it it – so you tell me if they believed it! They had to relocate everyone on that ward – why would they go to the trouble if there wasn’t anything. I could write a lot more, but I will leave it there. Whether you believe it or not, I don’t care, because I was there and it happened!!
Account III- Royal Derwent Hospital, Ex-Staff
These stories are both from ex-staff at RDH. I worked on ward 10 for a full 3 monthly rotation … it housed basically male burnt out alcoholics, some victims of measles vaccination gone awry, and punch drunk boxers and such … middle aged and beyond … ward 7 was presumably the female equivalent … i didn’t work there … wards 1 and 2 were for the true hard core criminally insane men and women … I remember stories of Reggie baker I think it was who ripped a several inches thick plate steel door between the two wards off with his bare hands in an escape … before medication the royal derwent was like a Dickensian bedlam… I remember a chap on ward 1 with the face of an angel and beautiful manners … normal as you and I … who’d killed all his family … i remember my first day as student nurse arriving at a middle aged women’s long term lock up ward and being confronted by a lady who displayed her finger to me (half of it was missing) and told me to read up her file … she basically ran much of the ward, very capable with periodic strange bouts, but before medication she had killed 2 people inside the hospital (one staff one patient)… the finger had been worn down rubbing it against a sandstone wall in an airing yard, being hosed down after one in an endless string of violent episodes … under medication she was just a middle aged capable matron who had been locked away for then 37 years … fascinating place.
I worked there for a couple of years in the late 70′s It was Ward 5 that I worked on. At the time of the ‘happenings’ it was distressing, although the staff in other areas, were saying the only spirits we were seeing were the ones in the bottles!. But it was so funny when they were trying to send these particular staff to work on Ward 5 after the incident, they wouldn’t go – they were chickens!!!
I continued working there on the nightshift with a guy called Dan, and I can tell you it was real. We were frequented by visitors all hours of the night, especially the little boy with the bowl haircut – dressed in clothes of the 1800′s. I called Mrs A the supervisor over, because the toilets were being flushed one night in a day room, at the complete opposite side of the dormitories. She witnessed it, so from there, it was investigated. We had sceptics come from as far as Adelaide, but nothing could be found. It got so bad on that ward, that Management closed the ward down and boarded it it – so you tell me if they believed it! They had to relocate everyone on that ward – why would they go to the trouble if there wasn’t anything. I could write a lot more, but I will leave it there. Whether you believe it or not, I don’t care, because I was there and it happened!!
Account IV- Willow Court, Ex Patient Keith
Account from a book called Keith Story as told by Jill McElwee 1994.
Some Wards were Safe and others unsafe. The female refractory Ward was an unsafe ward. Keith stated that you would need a nurse to guard you on this ward as the women would tear you to pieces if they got hold of you.
Keith witnessed someone getting electro shock therapy in Bronte. Keith stated that put a wire over his head and two pads on both sides and gave him a shock which resulted in him falling down.
Keith stated that there was a patient on Franklin House who was a book maker, he went book making to take bets and made quite a bit of money. This guy also made wire keys and would go around all over the hospital grounds opening up places. The patient used to weigh the milk coming onto the wards and people would take bets on how much they weighed, he knew every nook and cranny in the place. One night he went missing, after some time he was found dead in the grounds with thirty pounds of silver on him. He is buried at Malbina Cemetery with a headstone.
Account V- Royal Derwent Hospital(Ward 9), Ex Staff
I remember working on Ward 4 one day when we got a call to go to Ward 9 because they were having problems there. Myself and another staff member went to Ward 9 thinking we would need to hold down one of the patients to give her a tranquilizer injection, we were talking about which patient it would be and were hoping it wasn’t one that we knew was about 20+ stone in weight. When we got there we were told that there was a mad man in the south end bathroom. We went down to the bathroom and went in, a couple of police officers turned up and 1 or 2 other staff. While we were in the bathroom a guy came out of the toilet and blocked the way between us and the door to get out of the bathroom. He was wielding a very large machete and was quite drunk. He started slamming it into the walls and lockers. If it hit one of us we would have lost a limb for sure. Someone from outside the bathroom then locked us in from the outside because of the fear of this guy getting out into the ward with the other patients. We were in the bathroom trying to talk this guy down for a good 20-30 minutes when he suddenly lunged at one of the police. The other cop shot him through the leg with a hand gun. The bullet went through his leg near his knee, through the toilet door and bounced off the toilet bowl. This guy was quite drunk and fairly psychotic, he didn’t flinch an eye. The noise of the gun firing in a bathroom with tiled walls just about deafened all of us. We eventually jumped this guy and he pulled a flick knife on us. We overpowered him and the cops took him away. We had to go to court to give evidence against him. I think he got a couple of months jail. I remember standing up in court giving evidence against him after they read my full name and address out to him…not very comforting. When he got out of jail (almost on Christmas time) he ended up knifing a flat mate of his and killed him…back to jail of course.
Account VI- Willow Court Alonnah, Matthew T (Ex Staff)
Matthew stated that there was a huge big burly patient on Alonnah, one day he got quite agitated and ripped one of the thick solid timber doors of its hinges and started coming for the staff.
These Doors are approx 700mm thick of solid timber, these doors are heavy even to open let alone ripping one off.
All of the staff locked themselves in the Staff room when the Pysch ordered one of the RN’s to try and settle him. The RN grabbed the fire axe to try and protect himself.
The RN swung the blunt end of the axe in his direction; it hit one of the doors and took a chunck out of it and it then reflect off the door and the sharp end the patient leaving a huge gash which didn’t seem to affect the patient at all.
Account VII- Royal Derwent Ward 2, Heather Quarry (Ex-Staff)
There are so many but at this time of year (and probably because I just lost my grandmother recently and one of the songs they played at her funeral reminded me of another time the same song was sang) I remember something that was important to me at the time about an elderly lady on ward 2. She loved the song Amazing Grace and whenever i had time I’d sit with her and talk to her about her day and things in general.
Sometimes she remembered her family and friends, sometimes she didn’t but she ALWAYS seemed to remember the Amazing Grace song. I used to hold her hand and sing it to her. One night after she was put to bed for the night she grabbed my left hand with hers and kept patting it with her right hand as if she didn’t want me to leave her side. So out of habit or just instinct I sang Amazing Grace to her. She smiled and not long after her hands lost their grip of mine and she was gone. There was a Canadian Sister working there at that time and she was such a supportive person not just with the ladies on that ward, but with me because it was the first death I’d experienced in a working environment. I still smile all these years later when I think of that dear lady and remember the softness in her aging eyes. … Not sure if this is the type of memory you want to hear but for me it was a lasting one.
Account VIII - Lachlan Park, REPORT
4.89 A number of submissions reported people being placed in mental homes for what was apparently a form of punishment for misbehavior such as running away, refusing to work or perform chores or arguing with Sisters or staff. The use of drugs to pacify children for what may now be considered high spirited or adolescent behavior was also common and is referred to in the previous section. The use of such institutions for adolescent children is unjustifiable and the impact that it had upon them incalculable.
At the age of 12, I was taken to the Lachlan Park Asylum…
I used to look after the little kids in this place. I’ll never forget the ones with encephalitis – there were about 6 or 7 of them – with their swollen heads just lying in their cots waiting to die. There were also 5 girls in there who were just vegetables, 3 were sisters…Once I remember the nurses putting hot water bottles on them without covers on them and they got bad burns. There were also 25 little Downs Syndrome children who would be taken out of their beds each morning and strapped onto potty chairs where they stayed all day until they were bathed in the afternoon and put back to bed. They weren’t allowed to walk or run around…
As the children’s ward was not locked, I decided to escape one day, but I didn’t know how to get out. I remember it being freezing cold and the nurses found me before I could get out. They took me back to the children’s ward and gave me a tablet, which I spat out. Later they came back and told me to get dressed, and they then took me to another ward where I could hear lots of screaming. This was where they kept the ‘real crazies’. They put me in a cell with a small peephole in the door. I was so scared I couldn’t sleep. (Sub 182)
Account IX - WCC & RDH, Male Nurse
Mr L – Work- March 1974 – 1984
Started work at RDH as a 17 year old after having a very brief interview as they knew his mother who worked at RDH for sometime. Mr L then went to the Admin building collected his clothes and keys for work. Mr L said the shifts at RDH were a long shift 7am- 8pm, short shift 7am- 5pm then a day off. Mr L said this shift arrangement was ongoing. Staff had to do 4 weeks of Night duty.
First Ward Mr L was assigned to was Ward D. Mr L said Ward D was an open Ward for higher functioning males. Mr L stated that it was fairly easy working conditions because the patients did most of their own duties whilst staff supervised. Mr L said some of the patients worked and did not come back till late in the afternoon.
Mr L’s second day was at Ward 9 which was a higher functioning ward for women of mixed ages from late teens to 60’s. Mr L said that patients needed to up and suitable attired for breakfast by 7:30am. Mr L said that whilst Ward 9 was an open Ward it also had a locked Day Room for a few of the patients with dementia problems. Mr L said that each patient was bathed once every 3 days.
Mr L recalls Nurse B having 15 odd women in the bathroom which had 3 baths and a few showers but they did not use due to falls risk. Mr L recalls Nurse B saying “who’s running the baths?” then told them to all “get undressed”. Mr L stated that he was a bit taken aback by seeing approx 15 women naked in a small bathroom waiting for a bath. Mr L remembered that Charge Nurse Mrs E who gave him some handy advice for that Ward “never to put yourself in a comprising position with the women” Mr L stated that he made sure he always kept himself in eye sight of other staff.
After working in Ward 9 for a while Mr L got moved to Ward M or Myrtle which was the children’s Ward for children raging from birth to approximately 16 years of age. Mr L stated that this ward was broken into 2 sections the Nursery and older children section. Mr L said M ward was under Charge Nurse Mr K who kept the ward very regimented and routined. Mr L said that M Ward was a good but hard place to work because it was flat out and heavy work.
Mr L stated he returned to M Ward years later as the Deputy Charge Nurse.Mr L said that he changed a few things around whilst he was in charge. One of the things he did was to put a TV in the dining room so the children could watch Sesame Street whilst eating breakfast which the children loved.
Mr L stated that Ward 8 was an open ward was for mixed burnt out Alcoholics and for long institutionalized patients that were so institutionalized they could not be released. Mr L said some of these institutionalized patients came here as children that had no problems but were conceived out of wedlock from families that were ashamed of them.
Mr L stated that Charge Nurse B was in Charge of Ward 8. Mr L said that Ward 8 was a good place to work and it was considered the sports Ward because on the weekends they had numerous TV’s going all day of sport. Mr L said that this ward had a lot of visitors.
Next Ward was E Ward. Mr L stated that he liked working in E Ward which was an all Male Ward for moderate- High dependents that had some tendencies towards aggression which was normally brought about by boredom.
Mr L stated that if you walk in the bottom main entrance the right wing was the Dinning room, and the left was 2 days rooms that were sectioned off. Mr L stated behind the stairs was the Office.
Upstairs Mr L stated that the Left wing near Ward D was for patients that were older, more dependent and less prone to aggression. The right wing near Ward F was for the more troublesome patients. Mr L stated that at the top of the stairs was a nurse’s station which had a window that looked out onto the right wing.
Mr L stated that in each wing had multiple single rooms and a dorm which had up to 14 beds.
After working in E Ward Mr L did some study and became a Psych Nurse. He then started working at Ward 12. Mr L stated that Ward 12 was admissions ward. Mr L stated that when patients entered RDH they were sent here for assessment. Generally they stayed up to 6 weeks.
Mr L stated that Ward 12 was broken up into two sections one side was a pharmacy, doctors rooms etc and the other side was for patients admissions. Mr L stated that patients could not walk into the other section as it was locked. Mr L stated that ECT were conducted in Ward 12. Mr L recalls patients being admitted to RDH for their homosexuality and subsequently given ECT to try and stop them being homosexual.
Mr L stated if you were facing the Lachlan Rivulet there were 4 dorms the Right wing was females and the left was for males. Mr L stated that Ward 12 also had single rooms. Mr L stated that he first witnessed a suicide attempt in this ward where a young girl tried to hang herself.
Mr L stated that Ward 7 was mixed ward, but generally had more females than males. These patients had a tendency for aggression but not violence. Basically patients were sent here as a type of punishment, for their incorporative behaviors in other wards etc.
Mr L stated that Ward 10 was originally designed for maximum security patients with violent tendances. Ward 10 was a forensic psychiatric Ward that housed the criminally insane and had done some horrific crimes. Some of the Patients in this ward were very intelligent (sociopaths) they could and would manipulate staff. Mr L stated that soon after its construction they moved these patients back over to Ward C and Alonnah respectively because they could not contain them in Ward 10 as they would escape. Mr L stated that there were plenty of deaths in Ward 10.
Mr L stated in Ward C, Ward 10 & Alonnah you never went anywhere unaccompanied. There was a separate security staff and nursing staff. Up until the 80’s all staff were males. When females were introduced behaviours of the patients changed.
Mr L stated in Alonnah there is a red button on the floor of the Nurses Office, if something happened staff would push the button and 3 security staff would enter within minutes.
Mr L recalled one day he was working in Alonnah which was for violent females. Mr L said there was 2 teenage girls in that were in trouble with the law but had no problems but had no where else to go. Someone had forgot to do the cutlery count and a knife was missing. The girls came up to Mr L and put the knife to his throat and demanded the keys. Knowing they couldn’t get out Mr L gave them the keys.
To be continued………………………………………………