Her character helps to create awareness for dementia illnesses. She is one of the most complex and fascinating characters in the show. 32. "Like us on Facebook to see similar storiesIn the BBC drama, Sister Monica Joan was one of the first women to qualify as a midwife in Britain. "She continued: "It's very important to talk about it, because the terrible thing with dementia, a lot of people find it very difficult to communicate with someone with dementia. u/snapegirl1974. I had to tell him very gently that it was time to stop driving.”As his illness progressed Judy began to care for her husband as if he was a young child.“This was 15 years ago and I know that things have changed but I felt there was a lack of sensitivity and kindness,” she says.“My heart started to pound as I knew his behaviour wasn’t normal.”“In his last few weeks Tony lost his ability to swallow and chew and after five days in hospital he’d lost a stone in weight and I insisted on taking him home. In the BBC drama, Sister Monica Joan was one of the first women to qualify as a midwife in Britain. The one person I wanted to speak to was Tony but I couldn’t,” she says.“A nurse like this would have made such a difference to Tony,” says Judy, who is supporting Dementia UK’s fundraising campaign to create more specialist posts.“It’s a very insidious disease,” she says, explaining that there was no defining moment when she realised her husband had dementia.“After all, dementia is becoming more common.”The devoted couple met in 1960 when they were performing in a play together at Birmingham’s Alexandra Theatre.Judy’s beloved husband and fellow actor Tony Steedman died in 2001 from vascular dementia, which is caused by an impaired supply of blood to the brain.It hopes to have 200 such nurses by the end of next year.She loves playing Sister Monica Joan and is proud of the compassionate way the BBC has portrayed the illness which affects 850,000 in the UK.This figure is set to rise to more than a million by 2025.Like Sister Monica Joan, who has some incredible flashes of lucidity – in one scene she correctly diagnoses two young boys with cystic fibrosis – Tony was also surprisingly coherent at times.But Judy, 80, does share one thing with the character she has played for three years in the popular series – they have both had their lives turned upside down by dementia.As a talented dancer, he appreciated music and was incredibly well-read, says Judy.The couple married and had their son David.A week later he died at the age of 73.
It's very insidious, it climbs in very gently, and you either get on with it, or you give in. But worse than that was the emotional isolation. There are 850,000 people in the country suffering, and they think it's not long before it'll be a million.
“I remember one day us both frantically searching the house for my glasses, only to realise Tony was wearing them on his head. I find I love her more and more each season. Sister Monica Joan - I'm scared . Sister Monica Joan - I'm scared. She loves playing Sister Monica Joan and is proud of the compassionate way the BBC has portrayed the illness which affects 850,000 in the UK. However, I think she is at the high of her character in Season 8. On how important the inclusion of dementia is within the programme, Judy said: "I'm delighted it's getting more and more attention because it needs more and more attention.
Her heartbreaking drift towards dementia as Sister Monica Joan in Call The Midwife has left millions of viewers deeply moved.. Her character show us that dementia is NOT an "all or nothing" illness.
7 months ago. "I always said with my husband, I lost my husband that I loved, but I gained a child that I love because they become your children, and they're there physically, but they're not with you. It's a subject that's close to the actress' heart as, not only does the character she's played on the show since 2012 have dementia, her late husband Tony Steedman suffered with the disease and sadly passed away in 2001.