Wife with dementia's hospice 'like a cosy blanket'

Muriel and Barrie Johnson were together for 54 years

An 80-year-old man who lost his wife to dementia last year has praised her hospice care as "like being wrapped in a cosy blanket".

Barrie and Muriel Johnson, who met in Warrington, Cheshire, when they were both young teachers, were together for 54 years until she died in November 2024 at the age of 77.

Muriel, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and vascular dementia in 2014, eventually lost the ability to speak and live at home safely.

Barrie, from Ramsey on the Isle of Man, described his late wife as "a beautiful person in so many ways," adding: "We were soulmates, we had a wonderful, happy marriage and I am grateful - even in sorrow - that we had so many years together."

The couple met as young teachers in Cheshire

Barrie said: "We had gotten married on 1 January 1972 - she picked that date so I would remember - but I joked that 50 years on, it was her who couldn't remember.

"In her last 28 months she had to go into care, I was told it was unsafe for her and unsafe for me at home.

"I was getting no more than four hours' broken sleep, so it was unsustainable.

"It was a very painful decade," he said, explaining it was "not just the dying, but the 10 years before, when you can't communicate - there is a trauma to it."

Last autumn, Barrie said Muriel "walked into Noble's Hospital, declined really rapidly over three weeks and spent her last five days in hospice".

Barrie said it was "like being wrapped in a cosy blanket" moving from a noisy open ward in hospital to the hospice.

He said: "It was such a warm feeling having that care, and I decided then I must give something back."

And so, having celebrated his 80th birthday on Thursday, Barrie is planning to swim 5km (3.1 miles) in the northern swimming pool on Tuesday.

He has already raised £5,000 for Hospice Isle of Man.

Barrie Johnson decided to swim 5km as a way of fundraising for the hospice

Barrie hopes to complete his swim, equivalent to 200 lengths, in about two-and-a-half hours doing the front crawl.

"I wanted to do something that I will remember," he said.

He also said Muriel been a keen swimmer.

Barrie said swimming had been a real source of comfort to him since it had helped him "tune out".

Barrie, a retired PE teacher, completed similar challenges for his 70th and 75th birthdays.

On both occasions, he said he swam 4km (2.5 miles).

Before his latest challenge he said: "I want to mark my birthday and I want to mark it in a meaningful way... it is a milestone to get to this age and still to be fit enough to take on a challenge like this.

"Muriel would have told me off for trying to swim so far but would have been quietly proud!"

Barrie will start his 5km swim at about 14:00 BST on Tuesday.