'Grandma with Alzheimer's thinks she is 10': Koe Yeet's bittersweet video tugs at netizens' heartstrings

It's not easy taking care of a family member who's ill, but Malaysian actress Koe Yeet is choosing to look on the bright side. 

In a TikTok video posted on Wednesday (July 20), the 30-year-old provided a glimpse of what it's like communicating with her 94-year-old grandma, who has been suffering from Alzheimer's for about six years. 

The clip begins with the caption "When your grandma with Alzheimer's doesn't know who you are". 

"I don't remember already!" the elderly lady said in Cantonese. 

Koe Yeet then tries to engage Grandma again by asking her to guess how old Koe Yeet is. After some thought, Grandma chirped that Koe Yeet is 12. 

"I'm also about 10-plus... about 17 or 18," her grandma said.

@koeyeet Grandma with Alzheimer’s thinks she is 10 🙃 Don’t worry, we will hold your hand through it all. Let’s find beauty in hard times.#alzheimersawareness ♬ Married Life (Arr. for Piano) - Amy Mary Collins

The elderly woman also failed to recognise her own daughter — Koe Yeet's mother — who was filming the exchange. 

When asked "Who is Koe Yeet to you?', Grandma replied that the actress is her friend. 

Although she couldn't remember the answers to most of the questions, she appeared jovial and was laughing throughout the video. 

"She is happy. That's all that matters," Koe Yeet wrote. 

Her bittersweet interaction with her grandma resonated with many other TikTok users, who left comments sharing their experiences with their own grandmothers who also suffered from Alzheimer's. 

On Thursday, Koe Yeet, who's also a barrister-at-law, posted another video with her grandma.

This time, Grandma spoke in English — something that Koe Yeet didn't know she could do.

@koeyeet Storytime #alzheimersawareness #grandmasoftiktok ♬ Married Life (From "Up") - Sergy el Som

In the video's caption, Koe Yeet explained that her grandma didn't have the "luxury" of going to school in the past and Grandma picked up the simple sentences in her younger days. After she married a school headmaster, she lived next to a school where she could hear students reciting sentences in English. 

Apart from the phrase 'thank you', Grandma also never spoke in English.

"Maybe Alzheimer's made her confident, or maybe it triggered some old memories. I don't know. It doesn't matter as long as she is happy," Koe Yeet said. 

The video ends on a heartwarming note where Koe Yeet's grandma said that she needed to pee.

When Koe Yeet asked her grandma to translate that into English, the old woman said: "I love you!" 

"I love you, too!" Koe Yeet replied. 

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claudiatan@asiaone.com