Alastair Stewart and his wife Sally opened up during an appearance on BBC Breakfast on Wednesday, discussing Alastair’s vascular dementia diagnosis. The seasoned newsreader, aged 72, disclosed last year that he was diagnosed with the condition in 2019.
During the candid interview, he shared insights into his daily struggles, saying, “My professional life is okay, I still do a bit for GB News, they’re very supportive.”
He noted that while his work life remains steady, it’s his personal affairs that are profoundly affected: “It’s my private life and my life at home that is chaotic, so for example coming to see you guys this morning. She [Sally] had to do my tie, she has to make sure that the braces are okay on the suit and that it all matches, hangs together.”
He expressed the emotional toll of the disease, adding, “It’s more than discombobulating, which is a good word I like to use, it’s demeaning for me, it’s slightly demeaning for her as well. She becomes a carer after half a century of marriage!”
Sally also shared her experience, saying with emotion, “It’s hard work, it’s frustrating, it’s quite depressing sometimes but we try and find humour in it all. It’s not easy, you’re not trained to do it, you just have to make it up as you go along!”
Reflecting on the first signs that something was amiss, she recalled, “It was probably about two years ago now, he was just doing things strangely at home, leaving lights on, which doesn’t sound a big deal but for someone who’s obsessed with turning lights off.”
“He couldn’t tell the time on a clock, he couldn’t reset the clock. He was getting confused with days, leaving doors open, leaving gates open, little tiny changes but it was a concern,” reports the Express.
Jon Kay, the host, then highlighted: “Yet to meet you this morning, to hear you this morning, you seem just as fluent and as in control as ever, it’s this strange contrast, right?”
In response, Alastair stated: “It is a strange contrast and I think as Sally quite rightly said, she has this wonderful expression: ‘Just get on with it’ and I think you have to do that.
“Part of coming out, which to use another expression which she [Sally] coined, about my condition that’s part of why we wanted to come out, to say to folk there’s one in two people will either have dementia or be directly affected, as she is, by someone with dementia because they live together, married or whatever it might be.
“It’s to give people the confidence, if you’re worried about your own condition, you can’t tell the time on an old fashioned clock, you can’t do your shoelaces up, go and have a conversation with your GP. Our GP has been brilliant. The NHS has looked after us brilliantly.”
He further added that by consulting the GP, there are measures that can be taken to prevent the condition from worsening. With vascular dementia, for instance, quitting smoking, abstaining from alcohol and increasing physical activity can help. He asserted: “That will help you regain some control!”