Ruth Langsford, the host of Loose Women, has revealed how her son Jack, who he shares with her separated husband Eamonn Holmes, has been a pillar of support during a very difficult time for their family.
Former This Morning presenter Ruth Langsford, 65, has praised her and Eamonn Holmes’ 23-year-old son Jack for his maturity during a tough ordeal for their family.
The Loose Women star revealed in an exclusive interview that Jack frequently accompanies her to visit her 94-year-old mum, Joan, who lives in a care home, and “just deals with it” when his grandmother “says the same thing over and over again” due to her Alzheimer’s battle.
According to the NHS website, Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia in the UK. Dementia is the name for symptoms associated with an ongoing decline of brain functioning, which can affect memory, thinking skills and other mental abilities.
Discussing her collaboration with Amazon and UK charity Dementia Carers Count, Ruth shared: “He goes to see my mum. I have to kind of remind her who he is, so I say, ‘oh Mum, Jack’s home tomorrow, and he’s going to come in on Sunday with me’. And she goes, ‘Oh yes, lovely’.
She will have forgotten that as soon as I leave, I know. So when we do enter, I say, “Oh, look who’s here, mum, it’s your grandson, Jack.”
She kind of looks at him, and he says, “Hello, Grandma,” and then her brain says, “Oh no, it’s him,” and she says, “Oh my goodness, you’re so tall” – he’s been that tall for, say, seven years. But it’s lovely.”
Jack previously spent time with Ruth’s late dad Dennis, who was also diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, but he was too young at the time to fully understand his grandfather’s behaviour.
She recalled that Jack simply managed to handle it while I took him to see my dad while he was in a care facility. And that’s challenging because some care homes have people who behave in challenging ways with dementia.
Ruth continued, “My dad got very young, and he was sat there blowing a raspberry at Jack. Jack thought it was hilarious. He should be included, I wanted to. But I made an effort to keep him from getting scared, or, should we say, I would sort of remove him from the situation and didn’t want him to get scared.
But I genuinely wanted to be a part of my dad’s life. And you are aware that life is not always perfect. People experience challenging circumstances. The fact that Jack just deals with it and that he now sees my mother, she repeats it over and over again, makes him great.
Ruth went on to say that “it’s really difficult” to explain Alzheimer’s symptoms to young children, and that Jack will occasionally say the same thing. You must be kind, and you must pretend that he hasn’t said the same thing to you five times.
She continued, “It was kind of training him. But then I hope that because of that, people won’t know what to expect if we don’t raise awareness of it. What’s going to happen, they ask?
Ruth, who separated from her father Eamonn last year, has used her Amazon Alexa to set appointments for Joan’s appointments.
The TV personality once said, “I’m a very busy person, and we know many carers have jobs, maybe have kids, and they have a parent or loved one who needs assistance,” and it’s a lot of plate spinning, responsibility, and forget things.
“So, if something comes up in my head, I think, “Gosh, I must remember to book a dental appointment for my mum,” I can just say it loudly, “Alexa, remind me to book a dentist appointment for mum, Alexa, please add shower gel and toothpaste to my shopping list for mum,” and it’s already done, and I know it’s done.”
