GARDNER, Mass. \u2014 The wife of a man who escaped from a Gardner hospital where he was being held for a mental health evaluation is demanding answers and asking the public for help.<\/p>\n
Leonard Mercury, 57, broke a window at Heywood Hospital and jumped from the roof into the bushes below before fleeing the property, according to an email from the hospital to Mercury\u2019s wife, Nicole La Guerre.<\/p>\n
La Guerre told Boston 25 News she had called police to their Westminster home Thursday after an argument with Mercury, who has been struggling with his mental health.<\/p>\n
Police took Mercury to Heywood Hospital for a Section 12 mental health hold, La Guerre said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know how they allowed him to break a window, get on a roof, jump off a roof \u2013 and run how far? \u2013 with a guard posted at the door.\u201d La Guerre said. \u201cI am expecting the absolute worst. I\u2019m hoping that what my brain is saying is not what\u2019s happening.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mercury was wearing hospital clothes and no shoes. La Guerre fears he is hurt or worse after enduring the rain and cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe just promised me that we\u2019re going to be together forever,\u201d La Guerre said through tears. \u201cI\u2019ve thought of it before: if Leonard\u2019s not here, what would I do? But it\u2019s not something that you think would ever happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
La Guerre and her family have been searching the hospital grounds and the nearby bike path police say Mercury was last seen running toward.<\/p>\n
\u201cI literally drove his car through the bike path just yelling his name,\u201d La Guerre said. \u201cI\u2019ve gone to parks. I\u2019ve started back at the hospital retracing my steps, trying to think, if I\u2019m Leonard and I\u2019m panicking, what my move would look like.\u201d<\/p>\n
La Guerre, who shares two sons with Mercury, is pleading with anyone who sees her husband or believes they have any information to call police.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t care how small the help is. I want any help at all,\u201d La Guerre said. \u201cI need him, his kids need him. I just need him to come home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gardner police ask anyone who sees Mercury not to approach him but to call police immediately at 978-632-5600, or call 911.<\/p>\n
Boston 25 News could not reach Heywood Hospital for comment Sunday.<\/p>\n
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. <\/p>\n
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