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I’m A Celeb star reveals she’d ‘rather be shot than go into care’ after mum’s ‘horrific’ death
Her mother, who had Parkinsons and dementia, suffered immensely in the final months of her life
RUTHIE Henshall has revealed she'd 'rather be shot than go into care' after her mum's 'horrific' death.
I'm A Celeb star Ruthie, 57, deeply affected by the tragic loss of her mother, Gloria, in 2021, has become an outspoken advocate for improving care standards.
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Her mother, who had Parkinsons and dementia, suffered immensely in the final months of her life.
She told the : “I have already asked my sister, ‘Please take me out.' If I have dementia, and I have any capacity, there is no way I am going into a care home because there is no way I am giving that burden to my children.
"What I witnessed and what went through with mum was so horrific.”
During the pandemic, Ruthie, like countless other families, was barred from visiting her mother at the care home.
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She had to watch helplessly through a window while her mother languished inside, isolated and suffering.
This experience led her to join the grassroots campaign group Rights for Residents and work toward passing Gloria’s Law.
The proposed law aims to grant individuals the legal right to have a family member or friend as a care supporter in all health and care settings.
Despite Ruthie’s efforts, the government has yet to address demand for the law.
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She said: “The appalling thing is absolutely no one took stock of just how bad things were or addressed some of the things that were going on.
“There are still people who are not allowed in care homes, and the problem very much hasn’t gone away. That is why we need Gloria’s Law.”
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Ruthie’s grief is compounded by the trauma of losing her father, David, in 2020.
Back in 2021, Ruthie paid tribute to Gloria on Instagram as she announced her passing.
Sharing a heartwarming photo of her mother, she wrote: "Gloria 07/05/1933-11/05/2021
"My beautiful mummy Gloria passed away very peacefully early this morning. I managed to care for her for a few short weeks. It was my honour and my privilege.
"If the government had made their guidance law my sisters would have seen her more than a couple of times before losing her.
"Even recently my sister Susan was doing window visits because she wasn’t able to get an indoor visit for 3 weeks.
"Spring lodge, the care home my mother was in followed the guidance but still there are care home providers and managers that are not. It remains a postcode lottery.
"My sister Susan is angry and devastated that she only got 2 indoor visits before my Mother died. This was completely and totally unnecessary.
"Utterly inhumane to these beautiful residents who are not really living much of a life.
"Still socially distanced as much as possible during the day and unable to have anything like meaningful visits with loved ones.
"This to me is a crime being committed.
"Without the guidance being law some care home providers are allowing an abuse of residents' human rights to meaningful contact with their loved ones."
Ruthie had been allowed to see her mother daily because she had fought to be assigned as an "essential caregiver".
Just the previous week, the West End star delivered a petition to the government asking to give all willing relatives of care home residents essential caregiver status by law, which would allow them to visit their loved ones in the case of another Covid outbreak.
The actress slammed the Government for separating residents from their families in lockdown, as she added in her post: "I was Gloria's essential caregiver for her last weeks.
"I read to her, sang to her, cuddled her, fed her, massaged her hands and feet, and told her I loved her at least 20 times a visit.
"Each time I hugged her she moaned with delight. That’s all she had left was touch.
"She couldn’t walk, talk or eat solid food. Just one essential caregiver by law to every resident would give unlimited joy, love and peace of mind and take a huge strain off the brilliant carers who get paid mostly minimum wage.
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"Shame on every government official and care home provider that decided to ignore residents' human rights and just Baton down the hatches. you kept out love and hope. I am devastated.
"I hope it was worth the cost to keep them behind locked doors? #gloriaslaw #gloriahenshall #rightsforresidents."
Is it ageing or dementia?
Dementia - the most common form of which is Alzheimer's - comes on slowly over time.
As the disease progresses, symptoms can become more severe.
But at the beginning, the symptoms can be subtle or mistaken for normal memory issues related to ageing.
The gives some examples of what is considered normal forgetfulness in old age, and dementia disease.
You can refer to these above.
For example, it is normal for an ageing person to forget which word to use from time-to-time, but difficulting having conversation would be more indicative of dementia.
Katie Puckering, Head of Alzheimer’s Research UK’s Information Services team, previously told The Sun: “We quite commonly as humans put our car keys somewhere out of the ordinary and it takes longer for us to find them.
“As you get older, it takes longer for you to recall, or you really have to think; What was I doing? Where was I? What distracted me? Was it that I had to let the dog out? And then you find the keys by the back door.
“That process of retrieving the information is just a bit slower in people as they age.
“In dementia, someone may not be able to recall that information and what they did when they came into the house.
“What may also happen is they might put it somewhere it really doesn't belong. For example, rather than putting the milk back in the fridge, they put the kettle in the fridge.”
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