Following Julie Goodyear’s dementia diagnosis, her husband has talked about how painful it has been to watch his “fun-loving wife slowly fading away.”
Julie, who first came to the cobbles in 1966 as Rovers Return’s “no-nonsense” landlady Bet Lynch, disclosed to the public in June of last year that she had received a dementia diagnosis.
After meeting when he brought some plaster to help Julie restore her house near Rochdale, Greater Manchester, she married Scott Brand in 2007.
Judy Goodyear’s husband says his wife is ‘slowly fading away’
In an interview with The Mirror, Scott discussed his wife’s illness and said, “I miss the fun-loving wife that Julie had always been. Her smile lit up every room, and her larger-than-life personality brightened everywhere she went.” Right now, everything is gradually disappearing, and I’m having a very hard time seeing this decline. Now that she is having trouble recognizing individuals, Julie calls everyone she meets “Scott.”
“Julie has always been incredibly glamorous; she goes nowhere without makeup,” he continued. However, the makeup and lipsticks are no longer worn, and the clothes—especially the leopard print ones—have lost their appeal.
In 1996, Julie received an MBE for her services to theater. Her character on the ITV soap opera became one of the most beloved.
After leaving Weatherfield in November 2003, the 81-year-old now needs a wheelchair “to be mobile.”
Scott claimed that following Julie’s dementia diagnosis, he first “refused to accept any support” before realizing that “I couldn’t do it by myself.”
Julie Goodyear’s husband tells people going through dementia journey to ‘accept help’
“I had to quit my job to take care of Julie full-time,” he said.
“I needed to get help because I wasn’t coping.
“Taking care of Julie is my top concern, but as a single caregiver, I felt like it was “killing me” since it was affecting my health.
Julie had always handled the money, but these days she doesn’t even understand the worth of money.
“All of the home duties, which Julie had always completed with grace and ease, fell on me out of nowhere.
It felt like I was thrust into a brand-new environment where I had to handle everything on my own.
“I would encourage anyone embarking on this journey to accept assistance without delay.”
In connection with a recent Alzheimer’s Society campaign that includes a TV commercial narrated by British actor Colin Firth, Scott has opened out about his struggle with dementia.
The Long Goodbye, an advertisement, emphasizes the terrible truth of the disease’s course and how loved ones “die again, and again, and again.”
The concept is supported by Scott’s personal experiences.
The 55-year-old stated that the Alzheimer’s Society’s dementia advisors made it easier for him to adjust to his new circumstances, adding, “I couldn’t have managed without it.”
“I truly don’t know how I would have survived without this support; it was and still is a lifeline for both of us,” he continued.
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