'Titanic' Stars Donate to Last Known Survivor

Some of you may have read on CNN about the last Titanic survivor's debt woes. Good ol' Leo and Kate come to the rescue <3

http://www.independent.ie/national-...urvivor-struggles-to-stay-afloat-1734464.html

"After a moving appeal by photographer Don Mullan in the Sunday Independent a number of Hollywood stars have come to the aid of the last survivor of the Titanic."

The director and cast of the 1997 blockbuster film have made a "considerable donation" to secure the financial future of 98-year-old Millvina Dean who has had to resort to selling her autograph to pay her nursing home bills.

The stars of the film on the 1912 tragedy which grossed over $1bn were deeply touched to hear of the last survivor's plight.

Millvina Dean, the youngest passenger, who was just nine weeks old when carried onto the Titanic at Southampton, survived and is now living in Southampton, England. She needs money for her care.

Now Director James Cameron and actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet have contributed to a $30,000 fund which will ensure Millvina is financially secure for the rest of her days.

"An old woman, still trying to survive, this time from drowning under the weight of meeting her nursing home expenses, simply wasn't right, especially given the enormous sums of money the story of Titanic had generated in the recent past. There were people out there who could, and I felt, morally should, help her. To fail Millvina Dean, the last tangible living link to the Titanic, would make a mockery of the world's expressed concern for the tragedy," argued Mr Mullan.

It all began two years ago when Mr Mullan began working on a project to take photographs around the world on his Nokia mobile phone. One of his images is a close-up of Millvina Dean's hands as she signs an autograph for a memorabilia collector.

As part of Mullan's mobile telephone exhibition entitled A Thousand Reasons for Living, he has produced 100 limited-edition copies of the photograph titled Still Surviving and is selling them at &#8364;500 each. The edition is entirely sponsored by Nokia so all proceeds are going to The Millvina Fund, to help Ms Dean pay her nursing home bills.

"I figured that if the edition sold out, it would secure Millvina for a full year. My plan, however, was to double the impact and thereby secure her for two years. I decided, therefore, at the opening of the exhibition, to publicly challenge James Cameron, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, 20th Century Fox, and Celine Dion, to match me dollar for dollar,'' said Mullan.

To date, Mullan has sold 30 copies of his photograph, each of which will be signed by Millvina Dean. Now he has pledges from Hollywood stars from the movie but he is still determined to secure the support of singer Celine Dion and 20th Century Fox.

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OMG this is touching. I'm so happy they donated. Millvina had previously auctioned off her last remaining items to support her debt, but didn't reach near enough.

It is touching. I've always like Leonardo DeCaprio and Kate Winslet. It's nice to know they're good people.

Interesting that Celine Dion and the studio have not stepped up also.

VB

That warms the heart that they are stepping up to the plate. I would think the Celine would be a huge contributor... she grew up impoverished and is a pretty hefty charity contributor, from my understanding. Maybe this will get her attention, now...

I think the creator of Titanic should have been the biggest contributor. He made the most money of them all. James Cameron I think is his name?

That was a kind gesture of the actors. That's what it's about! Personally, I would have made sure it was anonymous so not to even bother bringing attention to themselves.

I didn't know there was still a survivor alive. That is great that they are paying for her nursing home. Maybe she can get some of her auctioned off things back. Kudos to the contributors and the photographer who brought the story to their attention.

brighidin said:

I didn't know there was still a survivor alive. That is great that they are paying for her nursing home. Maybe she can get some of her auctioned off things back. Kudos to the contributors and the photographer who brought the story to their attention.

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Some of them did. At one of her auctions, people bought the souveniers and then "donated" them back to her. Sweet.

I do believe it is a wonderful thing to donate to this woman's nursing home care. But, unless this woman's death occurs within the next 6 months or so, $30,000 will not be a sufficient amount for the indefinite "rest of her life".(don't mean to be crass, but it is inevitable for all of us) The cost of nursing home care does vary from state to state,and even within each state depending on whether it is a privately or state-owned facility. But, it is usually somewhere around $5000.00 per month,and often more. My father-in-law was in a nuring home in Pennsylvania. It was owned by a nursing home corporation, so it was approximately $300.00 more than a county home cost. In the year and one-half that Dad was there the price did increase. The initial cost was $5600,and it increased to $6400, due to price increase,plus the increased cost for the Alzheimer's Unit where he was transferred when his disease progressed.

The $5600 for room and board includes meals, and nursing care, and personal care. It does not include the cost for medications, and other ancillary items such as cable tv, diapers, or even the tv itself. Medicare does not cover nursing home costs, except in special circumstances, such as a patient who was transferred to a nursing home straight from a hospital with a "qualifying" diagnosis. In that instance, Medicare will pay for the first 100 days, with a copay. If you have nursing home insurance then none of the above applies, but it can cost several hundred dollars a month, and premiums are paid until either death occurs, or the insured is admitted to a nursing home.

I am an RN,and it amazed me to learn just how little most people know about the cost of a nursing home. Many of my FILs relatives thought that Medicare just paid for all of it. I am glad this $30,000 was donated by Leonardo and Kate. It is a good start. Now maybe the others who profited so handsomely from this film will follow their noble example,

Kateyes said:

I do believe it is a wonderful thing to donate to this woman's nursing home care. But, unless this woman's death occurs within the next 6 months or so, $30,000 will not be a sufficient amount for the indefinite "rest of her life".(don't mean to be crass, but it is inevitable for all of us) The cost of nursing home care does vary from state to state,and even within each state depending on whether it is a privately or state-owned facility. But, it is usually somewhere around $5000.00 per month,and often more. My father-in-law was in a nuring home in Pennsylvania. It was owned by a nursing home corporation, so it was approximately $300.00 more than a county home cost. In the year and one-half that Dad was there the price did increase. The initial cost was $5600,and it increased to $6400, due to price increase,plus the increased cost for the Alzheimer's Unit where he was transferred when his disease progressed.

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Close.
From a wikipedia on Millivina:
" In February 2009, Millvina announced that she would be selling several more items to pay for her increasing medical costs which she says now average approximately £3,000 ($4,521.72) a month."

That's just ridiculous. Ugh. =(

r0tflcopter -yes, the price of nursing home care is astronomical. I wonder what home she is in - is this in the states? I ask because the cost of nursing care at $4500 per month was what I had to pay for my father,who was in a nursing home from 1998 until he died in 2001. I am also curious as to whether she is in a skilled nursing unit, or if she is in an assisted living facility. My husband works in a facet of the long-term care industry, and knows the average costs like the back of his hand. The average cost of care is running right about $5000 per month. It is over the top, for sure.

When my father-in-law needed care due to his advancing Alzheimers, I chose to explore the cost of keeping him at home and hiring nurses aides,and an RN to oversee his care, through an agency. I quickly found that the daily cost of care would far exceed the monthly fee of $5400 for the nursing home. The nurses aides would cost approx. $14 per hour, with a higher rate for night shift. Then, of course the cost of the RN to oversee the care, and I had many areas of concern with this set-up. First of all - there would be no one with the caregiver but my FIL. That caused me to be concerned about abuse. And, even if the CNAs (certified nursing aides) sent by the agency were wonderful, it would most likely be a revolving door of different people all of the time. Most agencies have a very difficult time keeping staff, and add to that the possible weather conditions that might make it impossible for staff to get to the house... Once I had found a good home most of the concerns I had about care at home did not apply to being in a nursing home. We had to sell his house before it was over in order to keep paying for his care. The state will pay for care under Medicaid, but there is mandatory documentation to show that all of the patient's assets have been exhausted. And, federal laws make it almost impossible to place assets in heirs' names because of time limits. When my father in law passed away last year the federal law was such that any monies, assets, etc given or placed in others names for a period of 5 years prior to nursing home placement would be levied against the patient when applying for Medicaid. Yep, there is no easy answer except to die suddenly, and escape the evil of the cost of nursing home care. I never minded paying for the care - it just seemed so futile when the patient was no longer able to enjoy any aspect of life,and without any chance of ever improving. So sad.