Woman with rare brain disease dances with husband for first time in years

By Isobel Williams

This is the touching moment an elderly woman living with a rare brain disease slow danced with her husband - for the first time in years.

Constance Bartholomew, 69, has progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a neurological condition which has left her struggling to walk.

The disorder - which is estimated to affect around 4,000 people in the UK - can cause problems with balance, movement, vision, speech and swallowing.

Constance began physiotherapy at St Christopher's Hospice in Sydenham, south-east London in September last year - at which point husband Dennis, 72, joked he would pay a million pounds to dance with her again.

Upon hearing the remark, rehab assistant Ralitsa Angelova - known as Rali - made it her mission to make it happen.

And, four months later, Constance and Dennis were able to dance together for the first time in more than seven years - with footage showing the pair swaying along to Ed Sheeran's Thinking Out Loud.

Rali said: "They both loved the idea and wanted to give it a go, so we started to build up to it.

“I was always playing the music that Dennis and Constance like and when Constance was doing standing at the wall bars I encouraged her to try and sway like she was dancing to the music.

“The movements were small but significant. It was about Constance trusting Dennis and leaning onto him to support herself in standing.

“Constance is always determined every time she comes to the gym, it is hard for her to use her body as she wants or to voice what she thinks but she is always open to trying new challenges and to make the effort.

“Dennis and Constance’s dancing was beautiful because it was about the closeness and trust and love and care between them that remained true through the thick and thin moments that the illness imposed on them."

The couple met 51 years ago when a 21-year-old Dennis was walking to a higher education class along Blackfriars Road - and caught sight of Constance.

After over a half century together, the couple share two children, a son and a daughter, and several grandchildren.

Constance had been very fit and active up until seven years ago when she began feeling tired and dizzy.

After being taken to several hospital appointments to get to the root of the issue, doctors finally came to the diagnosis of PSP - after originally suspecting Parkinson's.

Recalling that moment, Dennis said: “Constance became unwell and was finding it difficult to be steady on her feet.

“We went through every medical facility in Croydon. I remember I noticed her signature had changed, her handwriting changed, that was a shock.

“When I saw her in hospital I thought she was dying. Up until then I could deny the reality of the situation. When Constance came home, everything had to change.

“She is unable to walk, to articulate, her eyesight has failed. It’s a terrible condition. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

“But she is fully aware. There is absolutely nothing wrong with her memory or comprehension. If she says that 20 years ago she saw you in Streatham High Street wearing a red top, then do not argue.”

Dennis said that deciding to move her into St Christopher's Hospice was not an easy choice.

But now that he has seen what good the staff do - particularly allowing him to dance with his wife - he is very glad they made that decision.

He added: “It’s been a fantastic time. We support each other and this happens because of the support given to us by St Christopher's.”

The video has been released as hospices in London come together to change perceptions of hospice care and highlight the vital importance of gifts in wills to their holistic palliative care services for adults and children in their communities.

The hospices are taking part in the This is Hospice Care campaign, a national collaboration of 143 hospices across England, Scotland and Wales, brought together by Hospice UK.

More than 3,500 adults and children and their loved ones benefited from free hospice care in the capital last year thanks to the generosity of people choosing to leave a gift in their will to a hospice.

Tom Abbott, director of income generation and communications at St Christopher’s, says: “We’re delighted to be part of this national campaign which not only shines a light on the variety of support hospices deliver, but also helps the wider public understand how we currently fund end of life care in this country.

“Dennis and Constance’s dance is exactly the type of extra mile we can go to thanks to support from gifts in Wills.”