Gary Marsden would like people to know what goes on behind closed doors when a family deals with dementia
His dad, a retired mechanic who worked at Vauxhall in Luton, was always a “calm, cool, collected” person but, Gary said, after the onset of the condition, the 88-year-old had to move into a care home. Gary, of Dingley near Market Harborough, said: “Bill was an absolutely amazing father, and he dotes on all of his grandchildren - he has 15 of those and 12 great-grandchildren, and they all absolutely love him.
Gary, who is in his early 60s, said: “The first indication I got was we went down to Twickenham, and he struggled to work out where he needed to go. “I think the most emotional moment for me was that first time of me talking to him and sitting with him for a whole day, and my dad turning around to my brother and saying, ‘who's that?’“The impact on my mum has been gradual. But he had an infection, and that really triggered the dementia.