Tragic story behind wholesome father-son photo

A smiley happy snap has revealed a very sad truth that no Australian family should have to face.

A smiley happy snap reveals a very sad truth that no Aussie family should have to deal with.

The raw and heart wrenching reality of sitting idly by while a loved one endures a painfully slow death has been revealed by a loving Australian son.

It was in a room at an aged care facility on Sydney’s North Shore that Nick Young watched his dad, Doug, slip away over the course of about six years after being diagnosed with dementia.

The news he was being slowly taken by the incurable disease first came in 2011.

“It was really confronting initially because one of the tests to see how much cognitive decline there is, is to remember a few words,” Mr Young told news.com.au.

He shared the upsetting moment his dad learned he failed the test.

“I could see his face pause and I could see the change when he realised that he couldn’t remember,” he said.

Doug and Nick Young pictured together. Picture: Supplied

“For someone who was always healthy and active, to have it dawning on him that he was losing his memory, that was a really big shock for him and I think it was the start of a really big change in his mindset.”

Soon after, he suffered another major blow to his confidence when his driver’s licence was revoked.

“I can still picture his face, it was just, ‘you can’t do that, you can’t take away my licence’. That was dad’s independence, and he loved cars. He would take them apart, refurbish them and take them to the car shows,” he explained.

Nick shared what it was like to watch his car-obsessed dad fade away. Picture: Supplied

“They were his passion, and then to not have a licence to drive – it was heartbreaking for him and heartbreaking for us as his family.”

As the disease worsened, Doug became more reliant on his wife and the rest of the family, until in December 2017, he was admitted to hospital for a separate illness.

There, his family were told he would not be going home.

While it was a terribly sad revelation, Mr Young said in a way it was a “blessing in disguise”.

“Mum would have happily taken him home, but to get told by the doctors he would only be leaving to go into full-time professional care … it gave mum a bit of peace,” he said.

Mr Young said his dad, who peacefully passed away last year, had a lovely room in the same home that cared for his grandparents, where his mum recognised some of the staff from years earlier.

During his dad’s decade-long battle with dementia, Mr Young – a cycling fiend – conceived, in collaboration with fellow cyclist Pierre Sullivan, the Bondi2Berry charity ride in 2016.

Doug’s family farewelled him last year after a decade-long battle with dementia. Picture: Supplied

Under the charity’s new name, the Dementia Research Community, the 155km ride, held annually in November, has raised more than $1.3 million since its inception.

“We started off with 40 people, riding from Bondi and through the national park to Berry, and soon, so many friends came to us with stories of their own personal connection too,” Mr Young said.

“Now in 2023, we have about 150 riders and we’ll be able to fund a research project from this ride specifically from the fundraising our riders do.”

Donations towards Dementia Research Community’s research can be made here.