KATHLEEN, Fla. - An 86-year-old man with emphysema died minutes after Lakeland Electric cut off electricity to his son’s home, shutting down his oxygen machine.
One day after Richard Howerton brought his terminally ill father John home from a nursing home, Lakeland Electric cut off the power to his home in Kathleen because he was late paying his bill.
“What they did was cruel and inhumane,” Joyce Howerton said of her father-in-law’s death. “It was despicable.”
Utility workers didn’t know a sick, elderly man was inside the home when the power was cut off on June 14. When the power was cut, the oxygen machine stopped and he died shortly after.
Records show that Richard and Joyce Howerton were chronically behind on their bills.
“This is a very unfortunate incident,” said Kevin Cook, spokesman for the utility. “Our thoughts and condolences go out to the family.”
John Wesley Howerton had emphysema. He had been living with his wife Rachel in Mulberry, but she broke a vertebra in her back in May and could no longer care for her husband.
John Howerton arrived at his son’s home about 4 p.m. on June 13. On June 14, the power went out a few minutes after noon. And so did John Howerton’s oxygen. The power was turned back after about an hour, but John Howerton had already died.
“I knew my dad was going to die,” Howerton said. “But he deserved to die better than what he did.”
Kathleen is 28 miles northeast of Tampa.
That’s a damn sad story. Sadder still since it could have totally been prevented if they’d just paid their bill on time! It’s my experience that electric companies send out a shut-off date notice giving you one last chance to pay your bill which makes this son doubly ignorant. Want to place bets on whether he sues the electric company?
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