86-year-old woman assaulted at New Jersey nursing home, son says

LIVINGSTON, New Jersey -- State officials and police are trying to figure out how an 86-year-old nursing home patient in New Jersey ended up with severe injuries to her face.

The patient's son, Benny Gomez, says his mom was assaulted and posted a picture of his bruised and injured mother on social media, which has been shared nearly 9,000 times.

"What does she mean to me? Everything, " Gomez said.

Eyewitness News met the heartbroken, shaken and angry son with his attorneys, days after his mother was rushed to the hospital from the Westfield Center Nursing Care facility in Westfield.

"She has double fractures in her face," he said. "Her nose is broken. She has stitches."

Westfield Center released a statement saying in part that it has a zero tolerance policy on abuse, and that it contacted the Department of Health and the authorities. It says Mrs. Gross fell and that the information being circulated is grossly inaccurate.

The statement also said that "while the photos are difficult to see, no resident was struck, hit or abused."

"No matter what the cause, no resident of a nursing facility should ever be made to suffer," Gomez' attorney Marilyn Barbosa said.

Gomez said that this wasn't the first time his mother ended up with bruises.

"She tells me that the aids were rough with her and that they hit her," he said.

Gomez said he placed his mother in the facility after breaking her hip and becoming totally disabled. She also has slight dementia.

"You go to the hospital and you see your mother in this condition is just unexplainable," he said.

The Department of Health and Westfield police are investigating, so no charges have been filed. Gomez's mother has not been returned to the facility.