This Morning star Sian Welby urges ‘don’t be scared’ as she opens up on health ordeal
Sian Welby’s father Jim was diagnosed with vascular dementia after family members noticed he started to struggle with his problem solving skills
Sian Welby has opened up about her dad Jim’s dementia (Image: ITV)
Sian Welby has urged people “not to be scared” of visiting loved ones who have been affected by dementia.
The 38-year-old This Morning star has recently opened up about how her dad, Jim, was diagnosed with vascular dementia. The condition, which affects around 180,000 people in the UK, occurs when the blood flow is reduced to the brain, causing neurological deficits.
Speaking to Anna Richardson on her podcast It Can’t Just Be Me, Sian discussed common issues facing families whose loved ones may have been impacted by dementia. One thing she wanted to stress was the importance of not removing yourself from the person.
Sian explained: “Something I would like to get across is for people not to be scared of it because I think, because it’s our dads, we’re really close to it and connected to it. When it is grandads and you’re one step removed, there’s a bit like ‘oh, I don’t want to go and visit him because it confuses him’.”
Sian Welby presents on This Morning (Image: ITV)
Sian says she was recently speaking to a new mother who was worried about taking her child to see her grandad because he won’t understand who they are. Sian explained: “I went ‘oh just go, go and see him, make his day, even if he calls you Kate and your name is Jane, just be that person that he will know, no matter what, that someone came to visit him that day.
“Whatever he makes of that moment, it will have added some joy and spice to that afternoon. So my message has been to people, whatever stage they’re at, really just embrace it.”
Sian, who will be appearing on Saturday Kitchen alongside Capital Breakfast co-stars Chris Stark and Jordan North this morning (Saturday, November 30), says it is important to accept that developing dementia does “change” a person. She hopes it will lead people to “embracing” their loved ones and taking time to understand them.
She added: “It’s one of those things where we’ve talked about the scary or terrifying stages of dementia but for now, if you are living in the moment, whether it’s your dad, your grandad, your wife, your partner, we are seeing it in younger and younger people and it’s a case of don’t dwell on who they were. Be in the moment, embrace who they are now, and be patient.
Sian Welby has warned people not to be scared of dementia (Image: Getty)
“I don’t tend to correct my dad, I let him tell me a story. I’ll maybe only correct him if he goes round and round on the same topic, I’ll maybe say ‘oh yeah dad, you did actually say that’.”
Speaking on This Morning earlier this year, Sian explained how her father’s “independence” had changed due to dementia. She said: “He was such a practical ‘can do it’ man, I never went to an MOT thinking the car would because my dad would fix it.
“He could do plumbing, he could build shelves, and we started noticing he started struggling with the problem solving element of things like that, that he’d normally be able to just solve. So he relies on everybody a lot more.”
Sian Welby speaks about her dad’s dementia battle
Sian’s mum Helen noticed Jim started to ask her questions twice in quick succession before the family noticed Jim became increasingly forgetful.
Sian says the family eventually noticed that doing a practical activity, such as painting a cupboard, helped Jim “stay in the moment” and hold a conversation more freely. But there is no cure for dementia, and eventually Jim will continue to decline.
“Eventually you’re going to become strangers,” says Sian. “Even the thought of it makes me cry now because the thought of someone like your own dad not knowing who you are, the thought that you’re going to walk into a room and they’ll be like ‘who are you? Do I know you?’ and it is so possible, is heartbreaking.”
