Yesterday he was lucky to make it from the bedroom to the lounge.

Max Kelly, who tended the Commercial Club bar for 35 years and wouldn’t miss a North Albury footy match, is a casualty of depression.

But his family say they are victims of a mental health system that has failed him.

These days he shakes uncontrollably, can wander off if his legs are “working” and has only a few teeth left on his bottom jaw.

Mrs Kelly said he lost his teeth in a manic moment at Albury’s Nolan House, the psychiatric unit at Albury Hospital run by Murrumbidgee Health, banging his head on the floor and picking out what was left.

The Glenroy grandmother has vowed her husband will not be institutionalised again.

Last year he spent five months in and out of Nolan House.

Mr Kelly, 71, also spent a month at the Royal Melbourne’s neuropsychiatry wing.

Most recently, he was shuttled between two other Murrumbidgee Health units, Kenmore House and the Confused and Disturbed Elderly Unit, known as Giles Court, at Goulburn.

Mrs Kelly spoke out yesterday after seeing a series of articles in The Border Mail questioning the state of mental health services in Albury.

“He wasn’t getting what I call proper care, I couldn’t take it any longer. He was too far from home,” she said.

“After all the medications and doctors, we still don’t understand what is happening to Max.

“He has good days and bad days — today is a bad day.

“People say he is old and should be in a home but this is his home.”

Mrs Kelly, who has a 41-year-old autistic son at home, said no family should have to go through the experience.

“Some of the staff have been fantastic but some are hopeless,” she said.

“There were days when he hadn’t taken his medication, or eaten his breakfast.

“You need to speak up for loved ones, make sure they are getting the right care. Don’t just expect it will just happen.”

Mr Kelly started as a steward at the Commercial Club in 1970 and became a leading hand, staff morale officer and public relations officer.

More than 100 people were at his farewell in 2006, where it was said he had worked more than 70,000 hours.

But Mrs Kelly said the past three years had taken its toll on her husband.

“He is not the man we knew. He used to walk into Albury for work, loved the garden, wouldn’t miss a game of footy,” she said.

“Now he is lucky to get out of the house.”