Elderly Couple Cries in Heartbreaking Photo After Being Forced to Live Apart

A backlog in the Canadian health care system has made it impossible to move Wolf, 83, out of his transitional nursing home

Anita and Wolf Gottschalk have been inseparable throughout their 62 years of marriage. But for the past eight months, the elderly couple has been forced to say a heartbreaking goodbye over and over again.

A backlog in the Canadian health care system has made it impossible to move Wolf, 83, out of his transitional nursing home and into the care facility where Anita, 81, is living, their granddaughter Ashley Bartyik says.

Every other day, Bartyik drives Anita the 30 minutes from her Surrey, British Columbia, care complex to Wolf's so she can see her ailing husband. The visits always end in tears for the couple, Bartyik said.

In a Facebook post published Tuesday, Bartyik says her grandfather was diagnosed with dementia and appeals to users to share their story in hopes that it will attract the attention of policymakers, who can help not just her grandparents, but other elderly Canadians who are waiting for subsidized beds, she tells NBC News.

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