Ruth Langsford praises son Jack's support amid 'hard' family life sparked by Eamonn Holmes split
Former This Morning host Ruth Langsford said she is "really grateful" for her son Jack's support following her split with Eamonn Holmes last year
Former This Morning host Ruth Langsford has flooded praised on her and Eamonn Holmes' son Jack for stepping up during a challenging time for their family.
The Loose Women presenter revealed that Jack, 23, often accompanies her to visit her mum, Joan, 94, who resides in a care home, and "just deals with it" when his grandmother "says the same thing over and over again" due to her battle with Alzheimer's.
According to the NHS, Alzheimer's disease is the most prevalent cause of dementia in the UK. Dementia refers to symptoms associated with an ongoing decline of brain functioning, which can impact memory, thinking skills and other mental abilities.
Speaking about her partnership with Amazon and UK charity Dementia Carers Count, the Mirror reports 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'.
"But I know she will have forgotten that the minute I leave. So when we do go in, I do the kind of, 'Oh, look who's here mum, it's your grandson, Jack'.
"And she sort of looks at him, and he goes, 'Hello, Grandma', and then it's like, her brain goes, 'Oh yes it's him', and she always goes, 'oh my goodness, you're so tall' – he's been that tall for like, seven years – but it's lovely."
Jack had previously spent time with her late father Dennis, who was also diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. However, he was too young at the time to fully understand his grandfather's behaviour.
Ruth reflected: "I would take him to see my dad during his Alzheimer's, when he was in a care home, and Jack just dealt with it, you know. And that's challenging, because there are people with challenging behaviours in care homes with dementia."
She continued: "My dad became quite childlike, so he was sitting there blowing a raspberry at Jack – Jack thought it was hilarious. I wanted to include him. But I tried to manage it so that he wasn't frightened, or if somebody was having a challenging moment, should we say, I would kind of remove him, and didn't want him to be frightened.
"But I really wanted him to be part of my dad's life. And, you know, life is not perfect. People have challenging things that happen. The fact that he comes to see my mum now and she says the same thing over and over again, and Jack just deals with it – he's great."
Ruth confessed that "it is really hard" to explain Alzheimer's symptoms to young children. She revealed how she explained to Jack when he was little that "grandad has got this thing, and it does mean that he'll say the same thing sometimes. You have to be kind, and you have to pretend he hasn't said that same thing to you five times".
Eamonn Holmes
She went on to explain: "So it was, kind of, training him. But then I hope because of that... this is where awareness is so important, because if we don't talk about it, people don't know what to expect. They go, 'what's gonna happen'?".
Ruth, who parted ways from Eamonn last year, has been looking after her mum with help from her Amazon Alexa, which allows her to set reminders for Joan's medical visits.
The TV personality said: "I'm a very busy person and we know a lot of carers have jobs, maybe have children, and they have a parent or loved one who needs help, and it's a lot of plate spinning, and it's a lot of responsibility, and you forget things.
"So if something pops into my head, I think, 'gosh, I must remember to book a dental appointment for my mum,' I can just say it out loud – '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 just done, and I know it's done."
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