IMAGINE seeing your father – the man you have grown up idolising – robbed of the personality you have always known.

For Mark Fry, that nightmare is a reality.

His father Bob suffered a massive stroke in June 2013 while he was being treated for a previous mini-stroke at Salford Royal Hospital.

The stroke left 70-year-old Bob with severe brain damage which has caused dementia.

His dementia manifests itself in bursts of sudden aggression and swearing – something Mark, aged 44, and his family find hard to deal with.

The father-of-two, who lives in Blackrod and is the advertising sales manager at The Bolton News, said: “The aggression is hard to believe when you are in a room with someone who you know loves you.

“Dad can snap in seconds without any reason. He will never be able to come out of care because he is too much of a danger to himself and others.”

Bob lived in Patricroft with wife Sue, aged 66, until his stroke but now receives 24-hour one-to-one care at a residential facility in Moston.

Mark said that while he can instantly remember things which happened 50 years ago, he forgets events which have just happened within a few minutes.

He said: “Dad’s dementia is like a life sentence. It has been two years now since he had his stroke and I have been in mourning for two years.

“Every time I see him it hurts again because he is not the man I knew. We have had to accept that what we have been left with is just a shell, and in some sense dad has died.

“It is a terrible condition. I honestly cannot imagine anything worse.”

Bob’s family have made the heartbreaking decision to have a 'do not resuscitate' order written for him, as doctors fear another stroke could be catastrophic.

Mark, having seen his dad left anxious and stressed by hospital stays, fully supports the campaign to create dementia friendly wards at the Royal Bolton Hospital.

He added: “Every single hospital should have a dementia friendly ward.

“Patients with dementia need a totally different environment – they need different stimulation and things like colours, lighting and music can all make a huge difference in keeping them calm.

“They need to be in an area when not just staff but other patients and visitors understand their condition.

“When dad was on a general ward it was completely unsuitable for him – when he was shouting and swearing that was horrible for the other patients and their relatives.

“I cannot encourage everybody enough to dig deep for this campaign. You might not be affected by dementia now, but one day your family member could be in the same situation.

“Dementia friendly facilities were not there for my dad, but hopefully with the help of this campaign they can be there for people in the future.”