TV presenter Ruth Langsford has spoken about the emotional toll of caring for a parent with Alzheimer's, describing it as a form of grief for someone who is still alive. The 49-year-old This Morning host revealed that her father Dennis, 82, has been battling the disease for 13 years and no longer recognises her.
Langsford, who lives with partner Eamonn Holmes in Weybridge, said she had to step in to help her mother Joan, 74, after her father's condition deteriorated. 'Hell would freeze over before she admitted she couldn't cope, but he was incontinent and was flushing his pyjamas down the toilet,' Langsford told the Evening Standard. Her father now lives in a care home in Lingfield, Surrey.
The presenter accidentally revealed her father's condition two years ago when she burst into tears on air during a phone-in about guilt. 'I started saying my dad has Alzheimer's and my voice broke and I burst into tears,' she recalled. 'But I don't want to break down on TV any more. I can feel the lump in my throat but I fight it back.'
Langsford is the latest celebrity to speak out about Alzheimer's, following actor Kevin Whately and newscaster John Suchet. The disease affects around 417,000 people in Britain, with 15,000 under 65 living with dementia. Langsford will take part in the Bupa London 10,000 run in May to raise funds for the Alzheimer's Society.
Despite the challenges, Langsford finds moments of levity. She recalled a recent visit where her father pointed at a trailer for Eamonn Holmes's show but, when seeing her on TV, said: 'Oh no! I can't be doing with her!' She added: 'I hold huge hope in the advances of medicine... I believe they will find a way of treating the disease and slowing it down.'
