Belfast man who cared for wife says dementia is 'a living hell'

A Belfast man who cared for his wife when she was diagnosed with dementia is describing the condition as 'a living hell.'

Jim Norris has been speaking to us as new research by the Alzheimer's Society has found the cost of dementia care in Northern Ireland has now reached almost £1 billion per year.

The charity says the figure is set to rise to more than £2 billion by 2040 unless urgent action is taken.

Mr. Norris was married to his wife Diane for 51 years, she was diagnosed with dementia in 2018 and died in 2022.

Jim became her primary carer and described the reality of living with dementia:

"You only have to look at the photographs there to see her physically deteriorating like that and getting to the stage where it became so bad she became incontinent.

"She lost her license and then of course with losing her independence then she lost interest in a lot of things, she used to do sudoku... and she just lost interest in everything and she really just sat there and did next to nothing."

Diane was one of over 900,000 people in the UK living with dementia, according to the Alzheimer's Society.

The charity is calling for more resources to help with early diagnosis.

Jim says his experience with the condition has been 'hell.'

"If anybody asks me what do you think of dementia my first answer would be it is the most cruel disease I have ever come across in my life, cruel...what people have to go through."

He is meeting with Stormont politicians today (Monday) urging them to prioritise resources for dementia.