Photograph of separated elderly Canada couple sparks reaction

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) – A photograph of a wheelchair-bound, crying elderly Canadian couple separated into two different care homes after 62 years of marriage because no beds were available together has received international attention.

Wolfram Gottschalk, 83, of Surrey, British Columbia was put in an assisted home in January after he suffered dementia health complications making it impossible for wife Anita, 81, to care for him at home. Four months later, Anita entered a different facility despite family efforts to keep them together.

The facilities are half an hour apart, with family driving Anita to see Wolfram several times a week.

Granddaughter Ashley Bartyik took “the saddest photo I have ever taken” when her grandparents were brought together recently. She notes that he reaches and cries out for her.