‘I can’t tie my very own shoelaces’: Alastair Stewart describes actuality of life with dementia | EUROtoday

Get the free Morning Headlines e mail for information from our reporters internationally

Sign as much as our free Morning Headlines e mail

Sign as much as our free Morning Headlines e mail

Alastair Stewart has described how he struggles to tie his personal shoelaces in his battle in opposition to dementia.

The veteran broadcaster, who was the face of ITV News for greater than 35 years earlier than shifting to GB News, revealed he had early onset vascular dementia in September final yr.

The 72-year-old, who lives in Hampshire along with his spouse Sally, stated many every day duties are actually past him.

“I’ve covered the Gulf War and run the very first television Leaders’ debate, but now I can’t tie my own shoelaces or choose my own shirt,” he instructed The Telegraph.

“But there’s no point feeling self-indulgent about it. I won’t condemn myself to an awful life in the short term.”

open picture in gallery

Stewart, a father of 4, stated that his grandchildren preserve him going and make him appreciative of life.

The broadcaster was identified with dementia in 2023 after scan revealed he had had a sequence of “minor strokes that are called infarct strokes”.

The earlier yr he had struggled with the knot in his tie and couldn’t inform the time on an analogue clock. He additionally discovered it exhausting to put in writing emails with poor spelling and punctuation turning into the norm.

open picture in gallery

Now, he can not drive and depends on his spouse to get him round and take care of him.

“It is demeaning and soul destroying, and she comes to it from a position of enormous calibre and talent,” he stated. “She is a beautiful, intelligent woman. I hate reducing her role in life to being my carer.”

During his profession, Stewart lined main tales such because the Beslan faculty siege, the autumn of the Berlin Wall, and quite a few elections.

In 1980 he joined ITN as an industrial correspondent and a decade later turned Washington correspondent.

Shortly afterwards he was despatched to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, to anchor ITN’s protection of the primary Gulf War.

He later turned the primary UK TV reporter to broadcast stay from the liberated Kuwait City.

In 2004, he was named presenter of the yr on the Royal Television Society Awards and in 2006 he was made an OBE for companies to broadcasting and charity.

He is now a spokesperson for Alzheimer’s Research UK to assist increase the profile of the charity and push for a treatment for Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia.

“Unless Alzheimer’s Research UK is successful in the not too distant future, 50 per cent of us will either have dementia or will be caring for somebody with dementia,” he stated.

Urging folks to hunt medical assist in the event that they really feel the early indicators, he added: “Don’t ignore it. Go to your GP. And if you’ve got it, don’t be ‘Johnny-bollocks-brave’ about it. Go and talk to somebody.”