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

By Elaine Mclaren

PUBLISHED: 23:10, 27 November 2013 | UPDATED: 23:35, 27 November 2013

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”?’