When Irish broadcaster Martin King's mother Christina was first diagnosed with dementia, the radio host said he was "very naive" about the illness.
Often described as 'the long goodbye', dementia is an umbrella term used for several diseases that affect memory, thinking, and the ability to perform daily activities.
According to the HSE, there are over 64,000 people currently living with dementia in Ireland – with estimates that this will reach 150,000 within the next 10 years.
When Martin's mother first began to show symptoms in 2011 - confusing names and misplacing items - the radio host told Lunchtime Live that he would correct her.
"I tried to correct her because I was trying to correct the condition," he said.
"[I was] thinking that if I say something to her ... that it might actually help her. If anything, it had the opposite effect.
"It was reminding her that something wasn't right."
Martin King and his parents (Photo by Martin King)The family was alerted to changes in their mother's behaviour on a family holiday in Floria in 2011.
"My mam was very placid and she actually lost her temper a couple of times while we were there," he said.
"My sister reckons the signs were starting to show then."
When Christina's diagnosis was made official, Martin said his mother would not accept what the doctors were telling her.
"She was in denial and she had been advised to take medication, but one of her sisters advised her not to take the medication and she didn't," he said.
"That would have slowed down the progression of it, which was quite sad. We only discovered that much, much later."
Martin King interviewing shoppers on Grafton Street Dublin. 30.03.11. (WENN Rights Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo)The diagnosis had a "ripple effect" on Martin and his family.
"When we got to the final stages of it, it was a little more difficult for some of the kids to deal with it," he said.
Martin said this began the long process of saying goodbye.
"You get to a point with the illness where you say goodbye to the person you knew and they become somebody else, to a degree," he said.
"Then, when the person passes away, you say goodbye again.
"In your lifetime, you will be an adult once and a child twice – and I think there's a beauty in that."
Documentary
In 2021, Martin and his family were featured in the Virgin Media documentary, We Need to Talk About Dementia – an experience he describes as "lovely".
"There's still so much life after diagnosis," he said.
"What we tend to do is write people off as soon as we hear the word Alzheimer's or dementia when there's still an awful lot that they can contribute to society."
Listen to @martinkingtv3 speaking about why he will walk with family and friends in this year’s Alzheimer's Memory Walk on September 24th.
Join Martin and many more people in this year’s Alzheimer’s Memory Walk and register for one of over 30 locations nationwide now at… pic.twitter.com/LMlvmI1dvE
— The Alzheimer Society of Ireland (@alzheimersocirl) August 25, 2023
On Sunday the 24th of September, there will be a Memory Walk for Alzheimer Society of Ireland in over 30 locations nationwide as part of World Alzheimer’s Month.
The family-friendly event is suitable for all ages and walking abilities and will raise funds for services such as day respite, family carer training or the national helpline, which supports people living with dementia and their carers.
Registration for the Memory Walk is open now until September 20.
