A Scots man has shared the emotional moment his mum, who has Alzheimer's Disease, remembers her late husband in a sweet video video that has gone viral.
Linda Sutherland, 66, from Erskine has been battling the cruel disease for five years and struggles to remember where she is or who her loved ones are.
Her son Graeme Sutherland, 29, decided to share his mum's reaction when she remembers her late husband Ronald Sutherland on a TikTok video.
The sweet clip shows Linda's face light up when Graeme mentions Ronnie and she realises she recognises his name.
Graeme shared the video to raise awareness for Alzheimer's but after posting it on the social media app it has received more than one million views.
Graeme and his twin sister Kirstin Sutherland, 29, both care for Linda and believe the beautiful moment ‘proves she is still in there’ amid her ongoing battle with the illness.
Speaking to the Daily Record Graeme said: “Her Alzheimer's is getting worse weekly, so moments like that are really special.
“It’s so good to see she is still there because sometimes she doesn’t even recognise me and my sister.
“It’s hard because I have always been really close with my mum, she always did everything for everyone.
“I film her a lot sometimes she gets it and sometimes she doesn’t but it is great to catch her remembering things.
“I didn’t expect the video to be popular. Loads of people reached out to me over it who know her which was really nice.”
Linda’s health began to deteriorate after losing husband Ronald who developed a brain tumour and tragically passed away in 2013.
The couple had planned to retire and travel together before tragedy struck.
They would have been celebrating their 39th wedding anniversary this year.
At first Linda's family put her ‘odd behaviour’ down to grief as she fell into a depression.
But as her symptoms progressed, she was taken to the doctors and diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease.
Graeme said: “She got diagnosed with Alzheimer's when she was 61 which is quite young but that is becoming more normal now.
“My dad’s death affected my mum really badly as they both just retired and planned to go travelling.
“It's sad they didn’t get to enjoy their retirement and me and my sister have cared for both our parents throughout our 20s.
“At first we thought the odd behaviour was normal because she was grieving but she started to do weird things like put deodorant in her shoes, it didn’t make sense.
“We got her tested twice and they told us she has Alzheimer's.
“Now she is on medication to help with the pain and slow it down, but it is just one of these things that is going to eventually get worse.”
Graeme hopes to use his TikTok platform to open a discussion and raise awareness about Alzheimer's and how it can affect people of all ages.
Graeme added: “I think it is important to talk about Alzheimer's because it isn’t just a memory issue, it is affecting her joints and teeth and she is even losing her eyesight right now.
“Eventually she will forget how to swallow and walk, it is really difficult but important we raise awareness about it.
“To cope I just wing it no one really knows how to handle something like this everyday but I just try my best.”
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
