Yesterday I was contacted by a reporter from the Examiner Newspaper about the renewed push for the apology to the former patients of Royal Derwent Hospital. Tonight on the 7.30 Report, Airlie Ward talked to ex-patient, Dannii Lane who is looking for some type of recognition of the wrongness of the public policy that allowed her to feel more unsafe inside the walls of the institution than outside.
“I can still remember the screams, the smell of stale urine, the smell of disinfectant trying to cover the smell of urine,” she said.
“And I remember seeing women chained to the furniture, like dogs. It wasn’t a nice experience.
“I was sexually abused by one of the male attendants.
“You were never safe, you were actually safer outside the asylum than you were in, it was one of the ironies.
7.30 Report Tasmania full story The story will be repeated on ABC News 24 Monday 27th October 2014, 3:30am
If you need to talk about any issues this story may have raised please consider calling Life Line on 13 11 14.
Video Report Here (right click)
