A photo of Zachary Chafos dressed as one of his favorite Pixar characters, Mr. Incredible, at his home in Clarksville, Md. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)
Author: To read William Wan's article, please click here.
They’d brought Zach to Howard County General Hospital on Nov. 12, 2020, amid a severe mental crisis. All his life, he’d been the joyful center of their family. But after months of pandemic isolation, Zach had become uncontrollably angry and begun physically assaulting his parents and his younger brothers.
For the past decade, Maryland officials have promised to address the problem. Yet the wait times have only lengthened during those years, especially among children and teens, a Washington Post analysis of statewide hospital records shows.
For Zach, everything about the ER made things worse. His autism meant he had little understanding of his surroundings, and his speech was mostly limited to one- or two-word sentences. The only place the hospital could house him during lengthy stays in 2020 and again in 2021 was a sunless room in the middle of an ER filled with the overwhelming sound of other patients in pain. Later, his parents would look back on those weeks, especially the final ones, with deep regret and guilt.
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