Martin Frizell, 66, quit his job as editor of This Morning last year to look after his wife Fiona Phillips, 64, after she was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s
Fiona Phillips’ husband has shared a heart-wrenching moment in her Alzheimer’s battle – the day she failed to recognise their own son.
Martin Frizell, who quit as This Morning editor last year to care for Fiona after her early onset diagnosis, reveals in their new book that things were even tougher than many thought.
Fiona, 64, had been battling a separate, undisclosed physical illness for months, and Martin, 66, believes the extreme pain worsened her Alzheimer’s. At one point, she was “close to delirium”, leading to a devastating new low: the day she thought their eldest son Nathaniel, 26, was a possible intruder.
In their book Remember When, Martin recalls: “One weekend, Nat was home from the Army and making tea in the kitchen while Fiona and I sat watching television. She became terribly distressed. ‘Who’s that man in the kitchen?’ she asked me. That’s Nat,’ I said gently. ‘Our son. He’s home for the weekend.’ She was in such a state that she didn’t even seem upset that she had asked the question.”
Martin is sure Nat didn’t hear her comment, saying he would have been “devastated” if he had. Fiona and Martin’s younger son Mackenzie, 23, still resides at home and, like Nat, has been a tremendous support to his mother, reports the Mirror.
Fiona initially held off telling her sons about her diagnosis as she and Martin were terrified they might also be predisposed to early onset Alzheimer’s.
Both of Fiona’s parents and several close family members had suffered severely from the disease. Her parents were affected in very different, but equally distressing ways.
Doctors clarified that Fiona hadn’t inherited it directly from her parents, but they had passed down other genetic traits that made her ‘predisposed’, or more susceptible, to getting it. Fortunately, Martin and Fiona found out their boys were not at the same heightened risk.
That doesn’t mean it’s been any easier for them to witness what their mum, the once vibrant and confident GMTV star, is enduring. ‘It’s tough for them.
They see their mum like this and it’s very upsetting,” says Martin. “But what choice do we have but to keep on going?’.
Former Mirror columnist Fiona isn’t conducting any interviews about her book and Martin is eager to let her words stand on their own. In an early chapter, she poignantly discloses her fear that she’ll forget the little everyday moments she shares with her sons.
Expressing her longing to return to her former life, she penned: “I want to watch Chelsea beat Arsenal 3–0 at home. I want our son Nat to come home on leave from the Army and give me one of his bear-like hugs. I want our youngest son Mackenzie to bring me a cup of tea and a biscuit when we sit watching TV together. I want to be me.”
Tragically, as Fiona was aware when writing those words, those cherished moments will become increasingly difficult to experience. Fiona received her diagnosis in early 2022 at the age of 61.
With remarkable courage, she chose to publicly disclose the news of her debilitating and devastating illness in a series of exclusive interviews with The Mirror in July 2023.
Throughout the three-day series, Fiona revealed that she had spent years attempting to convince herself that her persistent low mood and cognitive struggles were the result of alternative causes – initially attributing them to long Covid and later to the menopause. Ultimately, it was a menopause specialist who suggested consulting a neurologist, which led to her diagnosis.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
