This Morning star reveals heartbreaking update after dad’s dementia diagnosis
THIS Morning star Sian Welby has shared an emotional update about her dementia-stricken father.
The presenter, who welcomed her daughter Ruby in June 2024, said her 84-year-old dad cannot remember his granddaughter's name.
Sian, 37, opened up The Lulu podcast about dad Ian's diagnosis.
She shared a heartbreaking admission, saying: "I'm very close to my dad. He's very funny, he is very sharp, so it's scary to think I was gonna lose that because it's him, you know?
"That's what's so cruel about it, that you won't wish on anyone. You're gonna lose the person.
"They're physically going to be there, but gradually, bit by bit, you're losing them.
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"That was just horrible to imagine."
Despite her fears, Sian's admitted her dad was in a stable condition.
She went on to say: "I'm very lucky, and I will say it out loud, I'm lucky that my dad seems to have reached a very stable stage where he's not particularly getting worse, he's having good days and bad days, but he still knows who I am, he knows I have a baby, he doesn't know her name, that doesn't bother me, but he always remembers that I've got a baby."
In February, Sian emotionally heartbreakingly told how her dad still recognises her in a chat with .
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Opening up further on his battle with vascular dementia, she said: "If someone calls, he puts the phone down and can't remember who it was.
"If mum pops out to the shops, he can't remember when she left - or when she's coming back."
What are the main signs of Dementia?
SIAN Welby has opened up on her dad Ian's Dementia battle - here are the main signs:
Dementia symptoms vary depending on the cause. But common signs and symptoms include:
- Cognitive changes
- Memory loss, which is usually noticed by a spouse or someone else
- Confusion and disorientation, such as not knowing the place or time
- Difficulty:
Communicating or finding words
Following a conversation
With visual and spatial abilities, such as getting lost while driving
Reasoning or problem-solving
Handling complex tasks
Planning and organising
With coordination and motor functions - Psychological changes
- Personality changes such as:
Depression
Anxiety
Inappropriate behaviour
Paranoia
Agitation
Hallucinations
Previously, Sian broke down on her Capital radio show as she told how Ian had "cheated" death in 2022.
It came after her dad, who was already battling cancer, caught Covid.
This sparked a diagnosis of sepsis and pneumonia in both lungs before he dropped down to six and a half stone.
At the time, Sian exclusively told us: "He was so ill, we all thought he was going to die.
"He couldn’t even open his mouth to eat, he went down to six and a half stone.
"He went so downhill in such a short amount of time the doctors thought he had advance dementia and would be bedridden. We had to tell them, 'no! He wasn’t like this at all before!'
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"They presumed he was a doddery old man. I had to show them a video of him on a trampoline taken a few months ago to prove how active he used to be!
"He couldn’t speak, couldn’t drink, too ill to have his chemo cancer treatment, so we just honestly thought he was going to die."
