Fairbairn first noticed changes to her son’s behaviour soon after her wedding to his stepfather, Alastair, in November 2022, when Yarham began to get forgetful or displayed inappropriate behaviour.
“He went into the city one day to get something, or he’s supposed to be going to the shop, and he decided to get the bus,” said Fairbairn.
Scans at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital found unusual shrinking to his brain, before Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge diagnosed dementia.
Fairbairn, 49, said she felt “a range of emotions, from anger, sadness – sadness for him”.
“One thing it never done until the very, very end was take away his personality, his sense of humour, his laughter and his smile,” said Fairbairn.
A month before he died, Yarham lost his speech and could only make noises.
“You could hear him laugh,” his mother said.
He still went out walking before he needed personal care including being fed, which the family did until it became too physically challenging.
“So he walked into his care home September last year, very slowly, but he walked in and within just over a month he was in a wheelchair,” said Fairbairn.
