Pamela helps shine light on tragedy of Alzheimer’s disease

BEAUTYPRENEUR Pamela Laird, is highlighting the not-so-pretty face of Alzheimer’s, a disease she deals with every day after the dementia diagnosis of her beloved dad Syl. Pamela, pictured, was on a high last year when she made the finals of The Apprentice UK. But her happiness was tinged with sadness as Syl, her staunchest supporter, couldn’t share in her success.

‘When he saw me on the show it just didn’t click,’ she recalls. ‘He knew I was gone for months when I was filming but he had no concept of me being on the television, even when the show was airing.’

Pamela has seen first-hand the ravaging effects of dementia on the person and their loved ones.

‘It was in 2016 and it wasn’t really his memory – there were memory issues but that wasn’t the first thing we noticed, it was his mobility.

‘Alzheimer’s affects people very differently; it’s not like he just doesn’t remember my name, because he does. He struggles with mobility sometimes, his brain signals to the muscles don’t work. It’s a lot of other things.’

Pamela and her mother Yvonne are taking part in the first [virtual] memory walk to raise awareness and funds for the disease. ‘Mam is 99% his carer. We did have homehelp, but with Covid it had to stop.’

As well as looking after her dad, Pamela has been nurturing her budding business Moxi Loves which even wooed Alan Sugar.

Last year she made it to the final three in the Apprentice, before being ‘fired’.

■ Alzheimer’s Memory Walk is on Sunday, September 20. See memorywalk.ie