Son rides up three storys in bucket truck to surprise quarantined mom at nursing home

As some start to suffer with cabin fever during the coronavirus lockdown, others are perhaps temporarily glad of an unimpeachable excuse to avoid more trying relatives.

But the people deserving of our admiration show that, if you put your mind to it, you can find a way to show absent loved ones you care in spite of current restrictions.

Doting son Charley Adams, 45, is certainly one of the latter.

He recently found an innovative way to give his 80-year-old mom a much-needed lift, even though her Ohio nursing home had been forced to restrict visitor access due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Charley would normally take mom Julie out to lunch on a Sunday, or to dinner on a Thursday evening. However, with nursing homes across the land taking sensible measures to protect their especially vulnerable residents, that routine had gone out the window.

Julie’s home, Windsor Estates Assisted Living in New Middletown, Ohio, were offering video calls. The only problem was that mom is, by her son’s admission, no computer whizz.

The home was also allowing relatives to speak with residents from outside their room windows. The only snag? Julie lives on the third floor.

Charley, an arborist and owner of Adams Tree Preservation, told Mahoning Matters that his mother was going “stir-crazy” and “not willing to accept ‘no’ for an answer” over his inability to visit.

And so he dreamt up a novel use for his company’s bucket truck, complete with its adjustable boom for trimming hard-to-reach branches.

After checking in advance with the home, he drove over in it and raised himself up in the bucket.

When he got high enough, Charley phoned his unsuspecting mom and said “I’m right outside your window!”

Mom Julie replied “Oh, my awesome kid, what are you doing?” when she saw him, according to Charley.

 “She got a big kick out of [the bucket truck],” he added. “They’ve been locked down for two weeks.”

Julie is also revelling in the extra attention after photos of the visit posted on Facebook went viral. Family and friends from around the country are now calling her up to see how she’s doing when they hear about her son’s escapade.

Charley plans to take the bucket truck on further visits to see mom. There’s no doubt he has an elevated place in her affections.