A 33-year-old Indonesian domestic worker who had been taking care of her aging, dementia-affected employer for eight years, has been documenting her boss’s final days by filming her regularly, with the consent of her family.
Diana started to take care of 90-year-old granny surnamed Lin and her husband eight years ago and has built a close relationship with them since then, Apple Daily reported.
Diana treats Lin as her grandmother. When she noticed Lin’s condition was deteriorating, she wanted to capture the valuable moments with her and uses the video to show her love.
Diana said she suffered from low-esteem when she came to Hong Kong 10 years ago and worked for two families who complained about her work performance and cooking.
When Diana first met Lin, the old woman told her “I like you,” and Diana was touched.
Diana could feel the love the couple showed to her. They treated her very nicely, took her out for shopping and food and praised her cooking skills all the time, making her happy to work for them.
However, Lin suffered from dementia in recent years and the illness changed her attitude and behavior. Lin sometimes had a bad temper and accused Diana of theft. Lin gradually lost her memory and felt frustrated most of the time.
Diana said at first she was upset but she later realized that Lin was suffering from the illness. She tried to learn how to take care of the elderly with dementia, accompany Lin all the time as she was afraid Lin would walk off alone, and be patient and try to understand her needs.
The relationship between Lin and Diana became closer and closer. The two women even shared a bed every night. With support from Lin’s children, Diana started to learn filming and editing as she liked photography and started to learn to film and edit for YouTube.
“Lin’s children bought me the camera, the computer and Wi-Fi connection. They said they would support me to go for my dream of being a video-maker as long as I took good care of Lin,” Diana said.
Diana realized that Lin’s physical condition was getting bad and she started to take videos of her every day, trying to capture every moment she spent with the elderly woman in their daily lives.
Diana said she only returned home one time over the past eight years because she was worried that no one could take care of Lin when she left. She also worried Lin would miss her. “If I could, I would like to take granny back to Indonesia and spend time with her.”