Jon Snow's wife, Dr Precious Lunga, has shared a heartbreaking admission about the broadcaster's Alzheimer's diagnosis during his new Channel 4 documentary. The 78-year-old former Channel 4 News anchor was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2023, and the film, Jon Snow: A Last Big Story, aired on Saturday evening (June 20).
Precious Lunga on Stigma and Support
In the documentary, Dr Lunga, 51, accompanied Jon to a doctor's appointment where his health decline was discussed. She expressed anger at the stigma surrounding the disease: 'When we received a diagnosis, people were writing Jon off, and that's when I realised how stigmatised Alzheimer's is, and it made me so angry actually.' She added: 'This is a progressive disease, but you can have Alzheimer's and still will be a valuable member of society to contribute, if your loved ones are there to help you navigate it.'
Speaking about the future, she bravely stated: 'So, I want to give him as good a life as I can.'
Jon Snow's Journey and Documentary
Jon Snow, who fronted Channel 4 News from 1989 to 2021, stepped down after 32 years to focus on 'longer-form projects.' In the documentary, he reflected: 'At the beginning I wanted to hide it, there’s so much prejudice. Any sort of hint of mental decay, you're sort of dead. There are moments when it pops up, but it's not an all-day, every-day condition, and that's what I cling onto.' He added: 'I've witnessed a great deal, I hope I've learned something – but I’ve still got a huge amount to learn. We all have. There’s still more to do.'
Background on Precious Lunga
Dr Lunga is an epidemiologist and entrepreneur from Zimbabwe who left at 17 to study in the UK. She earned a degree in neuroscience from the University of Edinburgh in 1998 and a PhD in neuroscience from the University of Cambridge in 2003. The couple met in 2001 on the Caribbean island of Mustique and married in 2010. They welcomed a child via surrogacy in 2021, and Jon has two children from a previous marriage.
