Grandson Shares His 'Workout' Routine Lifting & Tending To His Frail Grandma, Sparking Debate About Care For The Elderly
Should he be the one doing this?
TikTok Before embarking on your fitness journey, you’re likely going to be curious about how to actually go to the gym, and luckily, there are thousands of gym vlogs on YouTube to help get you started.
One man on TikTok, named Chris Punsalan, decided to do his own little spin on the “mic’d up” format of a gym vlog where he takes you through another physical activity he does every day.
Chris Punsalan made a gym vlog about taking care of his elderly grandmother.
“You know how people do those mic’d up gym vlogs?” Punsalan starts the video. “I want to do a video like that — caretaker edition.”
Punsalan walks up to his grandmother, who lays restfully in bed, before saying “Hi, we’re going to eat now,” after she asks what they were going to do.
He eases his grandma up after a countdown with “immaculate technique,” as if he were really performing a workout, and then goes about his time taking care of her.
There are multiple shots of him moving around the house, carrying his grandmother and placing her in her wheelchair, bathing her, giving her medicine, and even making food for her.
At one point, the grandmother goes “my grandson is always helping me,” lovingly as he takes care of her very frequently.
After they eat lunch together, he decides to give her a little activity to do.
“One day, I gave her some napkins to fold and she really enjoyed it, it gave her a sense of purpose,” he says, unfolding napkins in order for her to fold them back up.
“I give her an example napkin, throw these on her lap, and she knows exactly what to do.”
At the end of the video, he carries her out of her wheelchair and back into bed where she can rest and pray in peace while watching her favorite television programs.
The heartwarming video was posted on September 8, 2022, but recently resurfaced on the internet to start a conversation about caring for our elderly.
There was overwhelming praise for Punsalan and his labor of love.
“This dude is great. It takes a very special person to do this work,” one of the top comments on Reddit read. “Unfortunately in the geriatrics population so many are abused and not properly taken care of.”
They talk about the lack of care, and more specifically the quality of care that other people tasked with caring for the elderly perform.
“This grandmother still is respected, has her dignity and is even given simple tasks like folding a napkin. While in a hospital setting she would lay there for hours, get bed sores and have little to no interaction.”
Another user, who claims to work with the elderly, applauded his idea with the napkins.
“The napkin folding is the pro tip here. Older people with dementia or just generally confused will excel with that as it is a simple repetitive task.”
“I hate this guy. I just found out I'm the worst grandson in history compared to him,” a third user jokes.
However, despite all of the support for Punsalan, some people pointed out how he probably shouldn’t be the one who has to care for his grandmother.
Some users pointed out that this was the result of a problem with elderly care.
“I'm not sure this should make you smile,” one user wrote. “People end up doing this because senior care is insanely expensive and retirement homes are run for profit and corrupt as hell.”
“This type of care of an elderly or sick family member is NOT for everyone and is incredibly draining (emotionally and physically) that most people have no idea. Don't feel like a failure for not being able to do this. This man is a very rare exception.”
Many people agreed, with several other people replying with personal experiences of having to take care of their elderly family members.
“It is amazing that this guy has it in him to do this, but this is not something he should have to do,” a second user wrote. “Nor is it something many older people want to have happen. Having to have your children, or grandchildren, clean up after you go to the bathroom makes many older people feel terrible”
Others defended Punsalan, claiming that caring for the elderly is a part of many cultures — it’s a way to pay them back for caring for you — but that doesn’t change the fact that elderly care is lacking in many places.
Fortunately, we have Punsalan’s video to help us feel like there is still hope for the elderly in some.
Isaac Serna-Diez is an Assistant Editor who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Keep up with his rants about current events on his Twitter.