Hollyoaks star Gabriel Clark shares real-life anguish over dementia storyline

dailystar.co.uk:

Hollyoaks dementia storyline mirrors real-life heartache.His character Ollie Morgan is watching his dad Luke, played by Gary Lucy, battle a form of the condition.And Gabriel saw his great-grandmother die of it too.Talking about it further, Gabriel said: "I had always known her as such a strong woman who was feisty and sharp."But when someone has dementia, those things start to disappear."I wasn’t seeing her all the time, so when I did see her I’d notice the deterioration more.

She’d have forgotten who I was. That was difficult to deal with."You grieve for someone before they’re gone.” Gabriel’s experience has helped him film scenes for his storyline in the soap.He added: "When you’ve been through something in real life, there is a personal element to it."You draw on your own experiences, so it’s incredibly emotional doing some of these scenes."But it’s still important that I do the research.

As an actor, you want your performance to be relatable to everyone."Gabriel said: "This storyline is so important because it’s something so many people go through.”One in three people in the UK will develop dementia in their lifetime.

And although dementia is not a specific disease it is a general term for the impaired ability to remember, think, or make decisions that could possibly interfere with doing everyday activities.