Dreane Williams will talk viewers through the lives of people living with changing brains in Dementia & Us tonight.
The groundbreaking BBC2 two-part series follows the daily lives of four people living with the condition.
The documentary, also featuring the families who care for them, was filmed over the course of two years.
All the participants are aged between 45 and 91 and are diagnosed with different types of dementia.
Furthermore it was produced by The BBC in conjunction with the Open University.
Who is Dreane Williams?
Dreane Williams is the narrator of Dementia & Us.
Because she suffers with vascular dementia herself she understands what others are going through.
Dreane is a dementia campaigner, amateur poet and retired NHS hospital worker.
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Dreane is a diarist for Dementia Diaries, a UK-wide project that acts as a video archive of dementia sufferers’ stories.
Its goal is to get people talking and also to change attitudes towards people living with the condition.
I know you’ll understand, because this Dementia lark, it has its funny side, doesn’t it?
A physiotherapist for 17 years, Dreane suffered a stroke within a year of retiring.
She lives alone, she says ‘happily’ with her two Yorkshire terriers.
Recently, Dreane admitted to listeners that she’d forgotten she was one of the Dementia Diaries video diarists.
She wrote: “It wasn’t until the other day, when I was reading through and listening to some of the other entries and I thought, “Well, I’m sure I used to do something like that.
“…and I scrolled down on my phone and lo and behold, there was a photograph of me!
“I pushed the button and there I was, speaking, so I know you’ll understand, because this Dementia lark, it has it’s funny side, doesn’t it?”
Who else appears on Dementia & Us?
Marion, aged 62, will eventually go blind.
Sadly, in 2019, she was diagnosed with a rare form of dementia Posterior Cortical Atrophy (PCA).
Former Bradford City player Adam Gilliver also appears on the moving documentary.
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The 77-year-old was diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2013 and is cared for by his wife Chris.
She told The Telegraph and Argus: “He’s very non-communicative but every now and then he’ll pick up a word and start singing.
“He still has his charisma, but he doesn’t recognise people anymore.
“When he meets anyone he’ll say ‘Hiya lad’, it’s his way of coping. People think he’s doing okay, but he isn’t.”
Dementia & Us is on BBC2 at 9pm tonight.
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