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BBC Radio 4 LW

Book of the Week

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Serialised book readings, featuring works from various genres

Serialised book readings, featuring works of non-fiction, biography, autobiography, travel, diaries, essays, humour and history

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Book of the Week: Somebody I Used to Know

Tessa Gallagher

Wendy Mitchell

Anna Wharton

Amanda Hargreaves

Lizzie Davies

Book of the Week: Somebody I Used to Know: Episode 2

Somebody I Used to Know

Episode 2

BBC Radio 4 - Book of the Week, Somebody I Used to Know, Episode 2

Wendy tries to pinpoint the moment when dementia became part of her life.

As the dementia makes its slow progression, Wendy reflects on the moment she acknowledged that dementia had become a part of her life that she could no longer ignore.

Wendy looks back and, in a conversation with her pre-dementia self, wonders when the condition really began to take hold.

Wendy Mitchell was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's at the age of 58 . But after a 20 year career in the NHS, based in York, this single mother of two adult daughters was not going to just give in. 

This is her account, written with Anna Wharton, of how she determined to try and outsmart the challenges served up by the dementia on a daily basis. Every tiny victory was hard won. Every day is faced with courage and resourcefulness.

Four years on from the diagnosis, she still lives independently, spends more time than ever travelling throughout the UK to give talks,  and continues to do whatever she can to change a society that views dementia as a death sentence. Her driving force is a compulsion to live in the moment, never knowing which version of herself - somebody she used to know -  might greet her when she wakes each morning. 


Written by Wendy Mitchell and Anna Wharton
Abridged by Amanda Hargreaves
Read by Tessa Gallagher
Produced by Lizzie Davies
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4.

BBC Radio 4

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

The experience of having Alzheimer's as told by someone living with the condition.

By Wendy Mitchell and Anna Wharton. The experience of having Alzheimer's as told by someone living with the condition.

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