Claire Nolan

Claire Nolan is a woman with schizophrenia who was living on the street.

History
When Claire was twenty, she disappeared from her home. Her mother said it looked like she'd been kidnapped. After several years of searching for her, they had a funeral for her.

Twelve after her disappearance, Claire wandered into the Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital emergency room. She was confused and her words didn't make sense. When she went behind the nurses' station and picked up the phone, Nathan and Andrew tried to remove her, but she collapsed to the floor. She needed a pacemaker. He placed a temporary one and got Maggie to sign off as the second authorization for a permanent one since Claire couldn't consent to the surgery. In the surgery, they removed her old pacemaker with difficulty and placed a new one. The serial number from her old pacemaker helped them identify her and the hospital called her parents.

When her mother arrived, she was shocked to learn that Claire was alive, as they'd spent years thinking she was dead. Claire had a psychiatric evaluation, during which she was tentatively diagnosed with schizophrenia. She became agitated when her parents came into the room to see her. She had to be sedated and Dr. Sen started an increasing dose of haloperidol to stabilize her. He also offered to refer her family to long-term housing and support services to help them and Claire cope with the schizophrenia diagnosis.

Later, her parents came into her room again and after a few moments of confusion, she recognized them and said they could sit with her.

Familial
Her family spent several years thinking she was dead. They had a funeral and grieved for her. Her parents even divorced during the time she was missing because of their struggle.

Notes and Trivia

 * She was a student at the University of Washington when she disappeared.