Elderly couple in Australia die just a day apart after nursing home saga

Ralph Gibbs, 80, and Carol Lisle, 84, died just over 24-hours apart. Photo / Supplied

An elderly couple have died just a day apart after a man's desperate attempt to be reunited with his "sweetheart" resulted in a major manhunt last month.

Ralph "Terry" Gibbs, 80, was handed a seven-month suspended jail sentence last week after he took his sick partner, Carol Lisle, from a Western Australia nursing home and attempted to drive her back to their home in Cairns in a desperate attempt to be reunited before her death.

The couple were eventually caught just over an hour from the Northern Territory border, with Lisle being flown to hospital and Gibbs charged and issued a restraining order, preventing him from seeing the 84-year-old.

The couple of 15 years have been separated since the incident, with Lisle dying at a Mandurah aged care facility in her sleep in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Gibbs died the following day after his ute collided with another vehicle on the Bruce Highway, south of Bowen.

The crash occurred just after 5am on Wednesday, with the 80-year-old man dying at the scene.

A manhunt was sparked after Ralph Gibbs took his partner Carol Lisle from her Western Australian nursing home and tried to take her back to their home in Cairns. Photo / Supplied

The driver of the second vehicle, a 60-year-old Bowen man, was flown to Mackay Base Hospital and is believed to be in a serious condition.

Lisle, who had dementia and Parkinson's disease, had been living at the Mandurah aged care facility since last year.

Her goddaughter Belinda Hodgkinson travelled to Queensland last year and took Lisle back to Western Australia where she placed her in a nursing home.

On January 2, Gibbs was visiting the wheelchair-bound Lisle when police allege he saw an opportunity to remove her from the facility and jumped on it.

Gibbs did not have the legal authority to remove her from the care facility and police said the woman was incapable of making such a decision herself.

Police also alleged Gibbs had planned prior to visiting her to remove Lisle from the facility and drive out of WA.

Police said his preparations for and execution of the plan put Lisle's health and safety at risk during the long time she spent in the vehicle. They also claimed Gibbs did not consider the high level of medical care she required.

The couple were found in Gibbs' vehicle two days later about 90km from the Northern Territory border, following an extensive search and help from truck drivers, local police and information from the public near Warakurna.

Lisle needed urgent medical attention and was taken to a nursing post in Warakurna before being flown to Perth by the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Gibbs was charged with deprivation of liberty and endangering the life, health or safety of a person.

The couple were intercepted just an hour away from the Northern Territory border. Ralph Gibbs was handed a suspended seven-month jail sentence. Photo / NCA wire

He was handed a seven-month suspended jail sentence on Friday, with the magistrate describing his actions as "extremely dangerous".

The 80-year-old was also issued a restraining order preventing him from contacting Lisle.

Outside the courtroom on Friday, Gibbs told reporters he would keep fighting for his "sweetheart".

"A year ago, my little sweetheart Carol was stolen from me against her will when I was recovering from an illness," he said.

"The person who took her is not a relative. She stole from us and tried to control our lives."

He claimed he had been "fighting for a year to get her back so we can see each other because she has dementia and may not last much longer".

Hodgkinson told The Australian she received a call at 9.30am on Tuesday informing her that Lisle had passed away in her sleep.

"They said she passed away peacefully which is some comfort," she said.

A friend of the elderly woman, who did not wish to be named, told the ABC that she was well looked after in the nursing home but her health had deteriorated since she arrived.

"Carol's friends are devastated at her passing and believe the separation from her loved ones contributed to her death," the friend told the publication.