Actress Anne-Marie Duff has spoken publicly for the first time about the death of her brother Eddie, who passed away earlier this year after a 15-year struggle with early-onset Alzheimer's disease. In an interview with BBC Breakfast, the 55-year-old Shameless star described the loss as 'not been easy' and reflected on the love and joy they shared even during his illness.
Duff recalled poignant moments with her brother, saying: 'A lot of people my age are saying what's next, what's the next chapter and he didn't get to have his next chapter. It's hard for my dad to lose his boy but when I watched him with my brother, shaving him I just thought that's love.' She added: 'Grief is a cheeky monkey. You think you're having a good day and then but that's love again. You wouldn't be grieving if you didn't love.'
Despite the challenges, Duff noted that the family experienced some of their best years together during Eddie's illness. 'We had some of the best years of our relationship inside the illness, which is bonkers to say but there was so much love, there was so much fun and giggled. Even when he lost his vocabulary, you still knew that he was trying to make you laugh,' she said. 'We laughed so much and we danced and there was music, which is very powerful for people with dementia, it was beautiful.'
The actress also highlighted the difficulties families face in securing appropriate care for younger people with dementia. 'It's very tricky when you are dealing with someone with very onset Alzheimer's or dementia of any kind because the care isn't necessarily there. A lot of care homes for example will have 60-plus in their age bracket. There are so many obstacles and so many difficulties. It's just very painful and bruising for people and frightening for people,' she explained.
Duff called for greater community responsibility and support from those in power, urging: 'We just have to really fight to be heard around this and not just leave it to families. It's so easy to leave it to families but we really can't.' Earlier this month, she completed a 26-mile walk across London to raise funds for the Alzheimer's Society in Eddie's memory, describing it as 'a very logical thing to do, to just walk for him'.
