Woman Pled with Amazon Assistant for Advice as She Lay Dying of Coronavirus: 'Alexa, Help Me'
A Michigan woman sick with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) sought help from Amazon’s Alexa in her last days before death.
LouAnn Dagen, one of 31 residents at the Metron nursing home in Cedar Springs, Michigan, who tested positive for COVID-19, died on Saturday after being moved to the emergency room at Mercy Health Saint Mary’s Hospital, local NBC station News 8 reported Wednesday.
LouAnn’s sister, Penny Dagen, discovered 40 heartbreaking recordings of LouAnn asking Alexa assistant on her Amazon Echo Show for help managing her pain in the days leading up to her death. Alexa devices save recordings in order to “improve the accuracy of your interactions with Alexa,” according to Amazon.
“I am in pain. I have to find a way to relieve it,” LouAnn said in one recording, according to audio Penny shared with News 8. “Can you help me cope with pain?”
In another, “Alexa, help me.”
“Oh, Alexa, I’m going to hurt,” LouAnn said in another recording.
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“How do I get to the police?” she asked in another. Alexa responded by offering directions to the nearest police station.
According to News 8’s report, LouAnn, 66, had underlying health conditions that made her more susceptible to the virus, including a history of diabetes, hypertension, and a stroke almost 10 years ago.
Her official cause of death was listed by the Kent County Medical Examiner as “coronavirus infection, diabetes and hypertension,” according to News 8.
Penny said that she spoke to her sister regularly, but had to tell her that there was nothing she could do to help alleviate her pain.
Penny said that she was called by hospital staff on Saturday, who told her that LouAnn had been placed on a respirator.
“They asked me about giving her CPR if her heart stopped and I said, ‘No, she didn’t want that,’” Penny told the outlet. “And then her heart stopped and that was it. A half-hour after they called.”
Penny tearfully told News 8 that “it’s good to know she’s not in pain anymore, but I still miss her.”
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“She’s up in heaven now so she’s pain-free, and she’s walking… with my mom and my dad, so I have to be happy for her,” she added.
In a statement to News 8, Metron’s director of operations Paul Pruitt said that LouAnn received “excellent care” at the nursing home.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with LouAnn Dagen’s sister, family and friends,” Pruitt said, adding that LouAnn “had been a resident of our community and in our care for more than 10 years and we cared for her deeply.”
“Due to patient privacy regulations we cannot share information about an individual resident’s physical or mental health while they are in our care,” his statement continued.
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“However, we can share that LouAnn was getting excellent care and that our team was following both her advanced directives and clinical practice guidelines to manage her pain and symptoms. Once those symptoms progressed rapidly, and at the advice of her medical team, she was immediately sent to the hospital.”
Metron did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Michigan has emerged as one of the hardest-hit states by COVID-19, with at least 20,220 confirmed cases of the virus and 958 related deaths as of Wednesday.
As information about the coronavirus pandemic rapidly changes, PEOPLE is committed to providing the most recent data in our coverage. Some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. For the latest on COVID-19, readers are encouraged to use online resources from CDC, WHO, and local public health departments. To help provide doctors and nurses on the front lines with life-saving medical resources, donate to Direct Relief here.
