By Spencer Hunt and Debra Jasper
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Mark McCullough suffered brain damage in a bicycle accident when he was 13. By the time he moved into the Manor Home in Geneva, Ohio, at age 26, he had such a violent and suicidal history that officials weren't sure they could care for him.

Three months later, he fought with another resident and unsuccessfully tried to commit suicide by slashing his wrists with a comb.

He was left unattended, and 40 minutes later, workers found Mr. McCullough hanging by a necktie and a piece of wire from a bathroom sprinkler pipe. A worker tried to revive him, but couldn't get an oxygen tank to work. The state Health Department threatened to decertify Manor Home, issuing 12 citations in connection with his death on March 16, 1999.

One citation faulted staff workers for failing to keep constant watch on Mr. McCullough after his first suicide attempt. Another was issued because the staff member couldn't work the oxygen tank.

The state dropped its threat to decertify Manor Home after the facility retrained workers, put in new suicide awareness procedures and promised to improve its medical training.

Manor Home administrator Deb Malloy says Mr. McCullough's death was a tragic incident that also traumatized her staff.

"He appeared to be calm," Ms. Malloy says. "If you've got an individual contemplating such an act, they are going to find a way to do that."

Ms. Malloy says Manor Home now puts any resident who threatens suicide under 24-hour, one-on-one supervision until a psychiatrist can do an evaluation.

John McCullough of Medina, Mr. McCullough's father, says he pleaded with state and county officials for around-the-clock care for his son: "It all comes down to dollars and cents. Who's going to pay for what?"

Still, Mr. McCullough says he believes Manor Home was better than some other places his son had been. One of those, he says, just put his son out on the street after he got violent.

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