'It ravaged my family -now it's come for me'

After her heartbreaking diagnosis at the age of 62, TV presenter Fiona Phillips vows to battle on as she joins clinical search for an Alzheimer’s cure

- ZARA ZUBEIDI

TV presenter Fiona Phillips has revealed her worst fear has become a reality as she opened up about her 18-month battle with Alzheimer’s disease last week. The 62-year-old journalist said she had been given the diagnosis after suffering from brain fog and anxiety.

But Fiona, who for months kept her illness a secret from sons, Nathaniel, 24, and Mackenzie, 21, insists she won’t “just lie down and accept” the diagnosis, and hopes to help find a cure.

Her mother, father, uncle and grandparents all suffered from Alzheimer’s, and Fiona has always feared getting it, too. But she was shocked to get the diagnosis so young.

“This disease has ravaged my family and now it has come for me,“ she said. “All over the country there are people of all different ages whose lives are being affected by it – it’s heartbreaking. I just hope I can help find a cure which might make things better for others in the future.”

Initially, doctors thought her symptoms were related to the menopause, but after tests, she and husband Martin Frizell – editor of ITV’s This Morning – were given the news they dreaded. Fiona said, “It’s something I might have thought I’d get at 80. But I was still only 61 years old. I felt more angry than anything else because this disease has already impacted my life in so many ways.”

Fiona told her sons about the diagnosis only recently, before going pubic with the story.