NURSE: I Saw Wife Attacking Hawking

Mirror (UK) ^ | Jan 22, 2004 | By Nick Sommerlad And Rosa Prince

[witnesstothefall]

A nurse who cared for Stephen Hawking yesterday accused his wife of being behind the scientist's mysterious injuries.

She claimed Elaine Hawking, 53, had repeatedly assaulted the 62-year-old Cambridge professor, who is paralysed by motor neurone disease.

The nurse, who claims to have seen several attacks, came forward to say: "Elaine makes it very difficult for the family and anyone who is there. We all witnessed assaults, all of us.

"Everyone was in fear of the woman and in fear of causing problems for Stephen."

The nurse, who was part of Prof Hawking's round-the-clock care team for several years, recalled seeing a three-inch gash to his throat - caused she claimed by Elaine "shaving him very harshly". She added: "Another time she slammed his wrist down on his wheelchair and his wrist broke."

The nurse also claimed she was threatened and abused by Elaine, Hawking's second wife.

The academic, a regular visitor to his local A&E, denies all reports of attacks on him.

Police have spoken to the nurse, who is now working abroad. They plan to fly her to Cambridge to be interviewed.

[Fledermaus]

I hope she at least acted like Bill Clinton and told him to put some ice on it.

What kind of evil abuses a totally helpless man in a wheel chair?

I hope his mind is finding a parallel universe to send her to!

[Don W]

If true, this is reprehensible, if untrue, equally so.

Either Hawking's wife, or the nurse, should be imprisoned.

That's the way to deal with frivilous lawsuits and false accustions, BTW, HARD TIME and paying the court costs.

[Fledermaus]

Having to pay the others court costs would stop a lot of ridiculous law suits. And John Edwards would be broke.

[ambrose]

I read elsewhere that Hawkings dumped his wife of 20 years for this woman... What goes around...

[Don W]

NOTHING justifies an able-bodied person abusing a defenseless person. Sour grapes, Ambrose.

[ambrose]

Didn't justify anything... She'll get hers when the time comes. Just pointing out he doesn't exactly have clean hands. After his bestseller, he had his choice of women, so dumped his longstanding wife for this one.

[Caipirabob]

"If my calculations are correct, then you don't really exist.....Oh! Forgot to carry the 1. Elaine? Elaine?!?"

Here's to dreaming. What a beast the woman is to do such a thing.

[MrsEmmaPeel]

Just pointing out he doesn't exactly have clean hands

You're not really suggesting that these two are equivalent are you? Handicapped Man divorces wife and therefore is entitled to be beaten up by wife 2?? Or, Handicapped man deserves to be beaten up because of the prior divorce???

That's ok in your world?? Wow! (I'll stop my comments at that point. I'm still a lady.)

[ambrose]

You're not listening.

[ambrose]

The wife:

[protest1]

I am with you on this one. He had a devoted wife and mother of 26 years but dumped her when he became famous. The situation he is in is partly of his own making.


It in no way excuses his second wife but he would not be in this position if he had not dumped his first wife.
I am still sorry for him and hope she gets sent to prison.

[LibWhacker]

I hope his mind is finding a parallel universe black hole to send her to!

[AdmSmith]

Probably Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy

http://rarediseases.about.com/cs/munchausensynd/a/091402.htm

This disorder can also take the form of child abuse in which a mother makes up illnesses for her child. This is known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy, meaning the mother uses the child's fake illnesses to gain attention.

In 95% of cases the mother is the one abusing the child this way; in other cases, the father, grandparent, or even babysitter may be the abuser. Some mothers go beyond making up symptoms to actually causing symptoms.

In time the child can come to believe that he or she really is sick. Some abused children fear contradicting their mothers, or feel that no one will believe the truth if they tell it.

Syndrome difficult to identify
Some of the reasons why Munchausen syndrome by proxy is difficult for health care providers to identify are:
the child has a combination of symptoms that does not conform to any known disease or disorder
health care providers are not familiar with Munchausen syndrome and don't consider it to be a possible diagnosis
the physician tends to believe the very persuasive and compelling medical history the mother gives; she knows medical terminology and may have even worked in health care herself
the child has often been taken to different health care providers over time, at different hospitals, and there is no communication among these providers

Potentially deadly results
Some mothers may severely hurt their children in order to cause symptoms. A mother may poison her child with medications, chemicals, or salt, give laxatives to cause diarrhea, or syrup of ipecac to cause vomiting. Some may go as far as suffocating the child for brief periods of time to cause respiratory and nervous system problems.

Sometimes the abused child dies as a result of the medical procedures, such as surgery, done to treat the child's strange symptoms.

[Yeti]

Probably Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy

Isn't there currently a big controversy in England right now about the gross over-diagnosis of Munchausen's by Proxy by corrupt or ignorant professionals? I read somewhere(I think it was FR) that it had become the equivalent there of our own "Satanic abuse" hysteria, and that thousands of families had been wrongly ripped apart by this fad, and that one prominent psychiatric was professional possibly looking at doing time for the fraud involved in whipping up the excitement to further his carreer.

[MrsEmmaPeel]

I am with you on this one. He had a devoted wife and mother of 26 years but dumped her when he became famous. The situation he is in is partly of his own making.

They divorced 5 years ago. He was already famous.

I am cannot believe what I am reading! Man, some of you people need therapy. Handicap man deserves to be beaten up, because he divorced first wife and therefore is responsible for wife's #2 actions?

Linking his divorce with his current treatment by wife #2 is ridiculous.

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

She strongly resembles Amelia Earhart.

[AdmSmith]

I do not know, but for sure it was underdiagnosed earlier.

http://www.emedicine.com/ped/topic2742.htm

"Although not precisely known, incidence and prevalence of MSBP are almost certainly more common than once estimated. More than 700 cases from 52 countries have been reported in the literature, but these cases only reflect the most severe cases of MSBP and those that have been substantiated.

A handful of studies reported variable incidence of MSBP. One study found that 1% of children with asthma were victims of MSBP. In another report of children with food allergies, 16 in 301 children (5%) were identified as MSBP victims. In a small English town with a population of 200,000, 39 cases of intentional suffocation of children were reported over a 20-year period (1 in 25,000). In 1991, Schreier and Libow conducted a survey of 880 pediatric neurologists and 388 pediatric gastroenterologists in the US with return rates of 21.8% and 32.4%, respectively. Among the 316 physicians who responded to the survey, 212 reported a contact with 192 suspected and 273 confirmed victims of MSBP. A survey by the British Pediatric Association Surveillance Unit found 128 cases of reported MSBP in the United Kingdom and Ireland in a 2-year period, with an incidence of 2.8 per 100,000 children younger than 1 year and 0.5 per 100,000 children younger than 16 years.

Using these criteria, approximately 625 cases of poisoning and suffocation attributable to MSBP can be expected in the US each year."

[MrsEmmaPeel]

Pinging both of you because of the incredible ignorance on this list and I need an antidote. There are some on this list that seem to think Professor Hawking is totally responsible for his current treatment, others, have their facts totally screwy. (get this little gem: "He had a devoted wife and mother of 26 years but dumped her when he became famous") Good grief! We all know that Professor Hawking still holds the Lucasian Professorship of Mathematics at Cambridge University (awarded in 1979, while married to wife 1) -- considered the most prestigious academic position in the world (Isaac Newton held the Lucasian Professorship of Mathematics in 1669)-- because of his incredible work on black holes.

I need a sanity relief!

[Utopia]

Mrs. Peel, anyone who thinks that Stephen Hawking is somehow responsible for his current condition is a sicko.