An elderly dementia patient in a South Carolina care home died after being swarmed and bitten more than 1,000 times by fire ants, according to a lawsuit filed by her family. Shelba Catterton, 83, who was nonverbal and fully dependent on staff, was allegedly left unsupervised after a worker propped open a door, allowing her to wander outside and become locked out overnight, where she came to rest on fire ant mounds. The case raises serious questions about supervision standards at care facilities, particularly for residents unable to call for help.

The lawsuit against Harmony at West Ashley in Charleston, for which the family paid around $6,280 a month, claims Catterton was not found until the following afternoon and that staff delayed calling emergency services until her daughter insisted the next day. A 911 recording cited in the suit shows a worker unable to state Catterton's age or the facility's correct address. Hospital reports described innumerable pustules from ant bites, alongside hypothermia and pneumonia, with doctors linking the bites to life-threatening complications; she spent eight days in hospital before dying earlier this month.