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Editor issues plea for dementia families not to ‘face it alone’

An editor has urged people affected by dementia not to “face it alone” after sharing his family’s experience with readers.

Rob George, who edits the Evesham Observer and Worcester Observer, has written of the impact his mother’s own diagnosis had on his family in a piece to mark Dementia Awareness Week.

Rob’s mother Sheila died in February after being diagnosed with the condition.

Her death came two days after a visit from Rob and his son Jacob on Sunday 21 February.

Rob's piece as it appeared in the Worcester Observer

Rob’s piece as it appeared in the Worcester Observer

Wrote Rob: “For me the most painful part to deal with was the fact that unlike any other illness or disease, nothing can be done to make someone with dementia better, you can only slow the decline. Basically you don’t die because of dementia, you pass away with it.

“When the decline began with mum it was slow but heartbreakingly for me, my dad and our family it began to take away the person we all knew.

“My mum was an extrovert, the sort of person who would walk into a room and know everyone within 10 minutes. As a rather shy young man I revelled in having someone so confident to look up to. But slowly but surely she began to decline, my dad reached retirement age but immediately began another job as her carer.

“One night I rushed to their side after mum had opened the front door and shouted for help as she was being kept against her will by my dad. She wasn’t of course, it was her illness manifesting itself. Eventually we were forced to embrace care homes to ensure she had the best care but more importantly she was safe.”

The article was published in several of Bullivant Media’s weekly titles last week.

Rob added: “When she was first diagnosed, I was of course devastated but hoped for two things – that she would pass on always knowing her husband and her son and family and she would not suffer.

“I’m proud to say she didn’t and while I will always miss her and feel angry this horrid disease took her long before she was ready, I am glad she is now at peace and out of her suffering.

“What my dad and our family experienced is scary but I would urge anyone affected by dementia not to face it alone. Hundreds of thousands of families are touched by dementia every year and many people don’t know where to turn.”

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  • May 25, 2016 at 10:00 am
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    A sensitive and worthwhile piece. If you haven’t lost someone to this awful condition you can have no idea how utterly helpless both they and you feel. My mother told me before she died: “I think I am going mad”. That was 15 years ago and can never forget those words.
    Well done Rob.

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