John Owens was dealt a major blow when was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease just three months apart. If that wasn’t bad enough for him and his family a chest infection and hospital stay really turned his life, and those of everyone around him, upside down. “Dad got delirium when he was in hospital in October 2021 and he was really bad,” his daughter and now full-time carer Carla Birt tells i .
“He went from being very talkative and active to not being able to walk or talk. It was quite a scary time as he really went downhill.” Although he was able to walk by the time he was discharged, John became “unmanageable” and disorientated so Carla, 51, took a month’s unpaid dependency leave from her job as a pre-school room leader at a private nursery to help her mother, Dot, look after him at the family home in Bracknell, Berkshire.
The pair share more than a typical father-daughter bond. Carla’s marriage broke down when her two daughters were young and John took over paternal responsibilities. “Dad wasn’t just the grandfather, he was the father as well.
He’s always been the person everyone goes to, especially having two girls. “My mum has COPD and has had cancer twice, so there was a lot to do on her own. I effectively began caring for my mum too as she needs the company as well with dad being the way he is now.
“And it’s so hard doing this on your own, but it would take a lot of stress off my mum knowing that I was arriving every .
