The breaks are being made possible by a private donor. They all take place between 10 and 17 March 2014.
Monthly Archives: November 2013
The husband looking for new love as his wife, 52, is stricken by Alzheimer's
Is he callous? He says not – and their three children agree
- Keith and Isobel met when they were just 17, but they clicked immediately
- They soon got married, had three children, and led an idyllic family life
- But several years ago, Isobel started having trouble with her eyes
- Her problems escalated and she was diagnosed, aged 52, with Alzheimer’s
- Keith did his best, but eventually he had to put her in residential care
- Unbearably for Keith, she often no longer even recognises him
- After 30 years of marriage, Keith feels he must move on, before she dies
- ‘There’s simply no point in two lives being wasted,’ he says
|
Mind made up: Keith Hall’s wife Isobel, who has Alzheimer’s, lives in residential care and Keith has decided to look for new love
The poignancy of his dilemma is written all over Keith Hall’s face. He may say his mind is made up, but his furrowed brow and watery eyes reveal an inner conflict.
After all, it isn’t easy to declare yourself ready to find a new partner when you’re still married to the woman you’ve cherished for more than 30 years.
But then life is far from easy when Alzheimer’s strikes at as young as 50 – as it did Keith’s wife, Isobel. Fast-forward two years and her condition has deteriorated so quickly that she often forgets who he is. Today she is in residential care, while Keith faces life in their attractive and cosy two-bedroom bungalow alone.
‘I know it’s controversial, but my life has to go on,’ he says. ‘I’m only 52 so that means finding another woman to share it with. I could have another 30 years with her – a whole new life – so where’s the sense in waiting until Isobel dies before I start to look?’ But meeting someone new in your 50s is hard enough without such a shocking admission as your opening line.
‘I’ve already ruled out dating websites because I want to be totally honest,’ says an emotional Keith, from Blyth, Northumberland. ‘And who would give me a second glance if my online profile read: “Married, with a wife in residential care”?’
Film highlights the reality of living with dementia
Tuning In To Dementia
8:56am Wednesday 27th November 2013 in News By Kate Liptrot, Health Reporter
The premiere of the film Tuning In To Dementia, with, at the front, Tony Neal, whose late wife Jenny featured in the film, next to Branda Pearson and Muriel Kelly, alongside other key people involved in the project.
A THOUGHT-provoking film which asks young people to consider the reality of living with dementia was premiered at a York school last night.
Starring students from Joseph Rowntree School, community members and some residents with dementia from Hartrigg Oaks, Tuning In To Dementia, aims to increase dementia awareness and build better understanding of the condition from an early age.
Over the next year it will be shown to 2,000 York secondary school pupils in personal, social and health education lessons and could then be rolled out nationally alongside a lesson plan.
