Heartbreaking photo of elderly couple forced to separate

NEW YORK (FOX5NY) - A 29-year-old woman from Canada is asking for help getting the word out about her grandparents' forced separation after 62 years together.

According to her Facebook post, Ashley Kaila Bartyik says the pair have been living in different nursing homes for eight months.

She shared a photo on August 23 of Wolfram Gottschalk, 83, and Anita Gottschalk, 81, crying.

Wolf has dementia and has been diagnosed with lymphoma.

Bartyik is hoping publicity of the family's ordeal will put pressure on the health care provider, Fraser Health Authority, to reunite the distraught couple.

In a separate post, Bartyik alleges that Fraser Health has not responded to her pleas.

"This is The saddest photo I have ever taken. This is my Omi and my Opi. As you can see they are both wiping away tears! But why? It was taken in Surrey at Yale road, a transitional facility for people waiting to get into nursing homes, that's where my Opi is! After 62 years together in marriage they have been separated for 8 months due to backlogs and delays by our health care system, whom have the power to have my grandpa moved to the same care facility as my grandmother. They cry every time they see each other, and it is heartbreaking."