Benjamin Reed died in agony after a carer from A Caring Hand in-home care agency put him in a scalding hot bath
Benjamin Reed, who suffered from Huntington’s Disease died in agony after a carer from A Caring Hand in-home care agency put him in a scalding hot bath (Pictures: Joe Ribich/Google Maps)

A disabled man screamed in pain after being put in a scalding bath by a carer that left him so severely burnt he died.

Benjamin Reed’s friend and housemate Joe Ribich heard him wail after the in-home carer called to tell him about the accident at their home in Boise, Idaho, on May 16.

Ribich told the Idaho Statesman: ‘All I could hear is him crying.

‘I could hear him screaming.

‘The only time I heard him crying like that was at his sister’s funeral.’

Afterwards, Reed, 38, was rushed to hospital suffering third degree burns on his entire body up to his shoulders.

He was transferred to a hospital in Salt Lake City, where he succumbed to his injuries on May 27.

Reed suffered Huntington’s Disease, a terminal condition which destroys the brain’s nerve cells.

Before being diagnosed, he had lived independently, but was at stage four of the illness – with stage five being the final, terminal phase, when he was burnt to death.

Ribich says the carer, who has not been named and is being probed by police, failed to perform first aid or even dial 911, and called him instead.

He continued: ‘I’ve bathed him (up to) five times a day for four years.

‘How does this happen? How?’

‘I kept him alive for a week and had him brought out of a coma (to tell him that) he’s too broken, and they can’t fix him.’

Ribich believes the carer ran the bath, then put Reed in the water without checking the temperature.

The carer reportedly noticed Reed was in pain after lifting him back out of the bath afterwards.

Ribich has been left devastated by his longtime friend’s death, and says he has spoken out to try and ensure no-one else falls victim to a similar incident.

The carer accused of fatally injuring Reed had been working with him for two-and-a-half weeks before his death, and had eight months caring for people with disabilities.

A Caring Hand, the agency which supplied the carer, refused to comment beyond calling Reed’s death a ‘tragic accident.’

Spokesman Jennifer Flowers added that the agency was conducting an internal review into what happened.