Jackie Stewart opens up about caring for wife with dementia

Health & FitnessLifestyle
13 Aug 2025 • 6:52 PM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

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  • Formula 1 champion Jackie Stewart is caring for his wife, Helen, who was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) in 2014.
  • Stewart, 86, built a specially adapted apartment next to their home to care for Helen, 84, preferring this to a care home.
  • He established the charity Race Against Dementia in 2016, investing millions into research for a cure, having been dismayed by conditions in some care facilities.
  • Helen's FTD has caused significant behavioural and language changes, including instances of aggression and uncharacteristic speech.
  • Stewart is funding a University of Cambridge trial for a blood test to detect FTD decades earlier, amidst reports of lengthy waiting times for dementia diagnoses in the UK.

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