Rob Rinder has announced the death of his father, David Rinder, at the age of 73, following a battle with Lewy body dementia that he described as a 'misunderstood' illness.
Father's death announced on social media
The TV judge, presenter and author shared the news on Instagram, along with photos of his father from over the years. David Rinder died on Wednesday, August 20. Rob has previously spoken openly about his father's Lewy body dementia, which he had suffered from for 'a number of years'.
According to the NHS, dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is one of the most common types of dementia, caused by clumps of protein in the brain's cells. The Alzheimer's Society notes that DLB shares symptoms with both Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, often leading to misdiagnosis.
Rob's tribute to his father
In his post, Rob wrote: 'My dad died yesterday aged 73. I wasn't sure whether to share this but if it brings attention to an illness too few people understand, perhaps it belongs here.'
He described his father as 'a London cabbie & lifelong Spurs supporter' who was present at every football match of his brothers and grandsons. Rob recalled: 'I once represented him at the Carriage Office for bad driving; I loved him but the prosecution had a case…'
Rob added: 'My parents divorced when I was little so I did not grow up with him at home. We were very different men. I loved opera and all its drama; he loved Tottenham and cigarettes. We both took people as we found them and we both loved women, though in rather different ways. I never once doubted his pride in me. When I came out he responded with magnificent indifference: I was still his son, there was nothing else to discuss.'
Gratitude to carers and awareness appeal
Rob praised the staff at Jewish Care, who supported David in his final years. 'In the last years of his life Jewish Care became his home, a place where dignity and tenderness were practised every day,' he wrote. 'Walid and Tosin, among so many others there, cared for him and came to kiss him goodbye.'
He continued: 'A Jewish man, held in his final days by people of different faiths: a quiet reminder that what is sacred in us is also what we share. He died with his family around him, loved and held to the last. Funny, beautifully flawed, loving and my dad.'
Rob used the post to raise awareness, stating: 'Lewy body dementia took him far too young. It made the familiar strange and the certain uncertain. Dementia can obscure a person but it does not erase them.' He noted that at least one in ten people with dementia in the UK has Lewy body dementia, around 125,000 people, yet it remains 'poorly understood, frequently missed & desperately under-researched'. He urged followers to 'learn its name, learn its signs and if you can support the work to change that', tagging the Lewy Body Society and Jewish Care.
Rob received messages of support from figures including Ruth Langsford, Angela Scanlon, Denise Welch and Dermot O'Leary.
