Heartbreak for Babs and her loved ones
Alzheimer’s is a cruel disease that profoundly affects sufferers’ nearest and dearest too
Remember that beautifully acted final scene when Eastenders legend Peggy Mitchell said farewell to Pat Butcher before swallowing a fatal number of pills?
That classic soap moment from 2016 seems even more extraordinary now we know Dame Barbara Windsor filmed it fully aware she was in the grip of Alzheimer’s disease.
And as recently as March, she was still fronting events for her beloved charities, knowing her attendance would guarantee press coverage.
So it’s shocking to learn that Babs was diagnosed with the disease four years ago.
It is not just Barbara who is suffering here but her husband, Scott Mitchell, whose tender words about his wife are devastating.
He said, ‘She’ll suddenly look at her wedding ring and say, “Are we married?” and when I tell her we’ve been together 25 years and married for 18, she looks at me disbelievingly and says, “But I have no recollection of it...”’ Watching the vibrant person you fell in love with physically and mentally diminish as Alzheimer’s takes its course is beyond cruel. Caring becomes like looking after a small child in the body of an adult with all the physical demands, lack of sleep and stress that entails. So those of us who are unaffected must share responsibility and help others who are struggling to take care of the people they love. Offer to give them a break for an hour or just make them a cup of tea. Barbara has been a tireless supporter of Age UK. It’s absolutely what the healthy, giggling younger Babs would have done.
For information and support, see alzheimers.org.uk