Barbara Windsor praying for Alzheimer’s cure – although she knows it’s too late
Barbara Windsor has been battling Alzheimer’s for five years and is hoping that she can raise enough money to help find a cure.
The EastEnders legend, 81, was diagnosed with the degenerative brain disease in April 2014, but kept it a secret until May 2018.
Although she knows it will be too late for her, her husband of 18 years Scott Mitchell says she is finding comfort knowing she can try and help others fight it.
"We both know it will be too late for Barbara but she still wants to do what she can to help find a cure. We both do," he said.
"If my great nephews can be spared what we are experiencing and thousands of other families are experiencing than how amazing would that be."
Scott is running The Virgin Money London Marathon along with Adam Woodyatt, Jake Wood, Emma Barton, Natalie Cassidy, Kellie Shirley, Tanya Franks, Jamie Borthwick and Jane Slaughter.
They hope to raise £100,000 for Dementia Revolution, a joint venture by Alzheimer’s groups to fund vital research.
Scott, 56, told the Daily Star : "The heartbreaking thing is a cure is possible.
"They believe in six years a cure or at least major breakthrough could be found with the right funding.
"That is what we are aiming for. We accept it would be for future generations."
Scott revealed at the beginning of January that her health has suddenly and rapidly declined in the last two weeks as her Alzheimer’s advances.
In the last two weeks alone, the beloved EastEnders actress has forgotten who her husband Scott is and no longer recognises her own home.
It’s in stark contrast to her show-stealing appearance at co-star Shane Richie’s panto in Milton Keynes, Bucks, on December 28, when she posed for selfies and received a standing ovation.
Scott – who is 25 years younger than Barbara, 81 – said: "The last two weeks her confusion is really bad…
"I spend a lot of time explaining where we are – she has a lot of trouble identifying her house. I would just say, ‘we’re staying here tonight…’ And she’d ask, ‘have we got clothes here?’" he told Good Morning Britain.
"That’s the reality people living with dementia are going through. I go through that a lot with her."
Recalling the heartbreaking moment she forgot who he was, he continued, "I was helping her out of the bath and she suddenly looked at me, very scared, and said: ‘Sorry, who are you?’
"There’s no words that can describe it."
He knows it’s now "inevitable" that she will forget who he is entirely, and said he has to show her pictures of their life together so that she’ll remember.
To support the ‘Barbara’s Revolutionairies’ Alzheimer’s London Marathon team, click here .
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