Newcastle care worker Dan Mousa was on his way home from work when he got one final call for the day.
It was late in the evening when Mr Mousa found an elderly man scared, alone and in the dark of his Cooks Hill public housing unit.
"I went in calling out his name but there was no answer, and the lights had been turned off at the electricity box," he said.
"I found this client in bed, absolutely scared, frozen with fear."
After 11 years in specialised home care, this was no ordinary visit for Mr Mousa.
Together with his client care operations manager Kacey Snell, the Hunter workers were able to help a vulnerable man with nowhere left to turn.
Mr Mousa provides at-home support with aged care charity HammondCare where he helps people with day-to-day tasks.
After 6pm on May 17, his work asked him to help take a 78-year-old man living in a Department of Housing unit to a hotel after the man's regular care worker escalated her concerns.
With Ms Snell on the phone, Mr Mousa entered the property using his phone light.
Ms Snell said the regular HammondCare care worker told her the unit appeared to be ransacked, with the man's keys, wallet, credit cards and food gone, threats and profanity graffitied on the wall and human waste in the bathroom.
A week before, care workers had found a person unknown to the tenant sleeping on the floor and his mobility scooter was gone, she said.
As Mr Mousa made his way through the property, he was just hoping he did not scare the man.
"Once I was able to get the lights on, he softened a bit and he felt more comfortable but he was so frightened," Mr Mousa said.
"I've never seen anything like it," he said.
"I've been on the road for 11 years and this was very eye-opening and emotional."
Mr Mousa then helped the man shop for essential food items and get settled for the night in a hotel.
"The aim was to help him go to a safer location where he couldn't be hurt or taken advantage of," he said.
Ms Snell said she had spent the day contacting external care, health and housing services but none had the resources or ability to act immediately at the time.
"It was a really challenging day to try and find the resources that could adequately get this gentleman to safety," she said.
"Usually when you find people in these vulnerable situations they have other resources available to them, such as family, friends or registered supporters."
In the following days, the man's condition deteriorated and he was taken to the Calvary Mater Newcastle.
He will be released into a residential aged care facility, Ms Snell said.
Ms Snell and other members of her team continued to advocate for the man during his hospital stay.
"What began as a concerning home visit became something more serious, it was a complex and urgent situation," she said.
HammondCare executive general manager home care Marcela Carrasco said the case was an example of the desperate situations facing home care workers.
