RTÉ PRESENTER Pat Kenny has said he and his family could not have coped without the help of the Alzheimer Society of Ireland after his mother developed the degenerative brain disease.
At the launch yesterday of the 15th Alzheimer’s Tea Day appeal, Kenny said the charity’s assistance meant his late mother, Connie, was able to spend an extra five years living at home.
Mrs Kenny died late last year having had Alzheimer’s for 14 years.
While she was at home, carers from the society visited her every day, the presenter said. They got her out of bed, made sure she was eating and taking her medication and they became her friends.
“She stayed at home with the support of the Alzheimer Society for far longer, maybe for four or five years longer than might have been the case without their help,” he said.
Kenny said he told his children, who were computer- literate at the time, that granny’s memory was full.
“When she was told something she would repeatedly ask questions, the same question over and over again,” he said.
“We would say granny’s memory is full, there is no room for anything else in there, and they understood that.”
His mother had a full life at home with the help of the society, her five children and elderly relatives who lived nearby.
“Then one night she decided to change a light bulb, she climbed up on a chair and fell and ended up in hospital,” he said.
“By the time she emerged, she had lost all the familiar things that kept her at home.”
She spent her final years in a nursing home before her death in October last year.
Kenny said that it was important for him to talk about the reality of the condition and encourage others to talk openly about it too.
The Alzheimer Society’s home help service was hugely in demand and was expensive to run, he said, and the tea day was an important event to raise funds for it.
The society needs to raise €4 million this year to sustain its service, which is part-funded by the Health Service Executive.
To register for Tea Day, which takes place on Thursday, May 7th, call 1800 719 820, e-mail teaday@alzheimer.ie or visit www.teaday.ie by April 30th to order a registration pack.
