'Yer a gorgeous wee wean' Beautiful moment Scots dementia patient cheered up by fake baby doll

A pensioner with dementia had an emotional reaction after being given a 'baby' to look after in lockdown.

Rena McKinlay from Saltcoats was delighted to be given a realistic doll at Buckreddan Care Centre.

The 91-year-old gran hasn't seen her family since the coronavirus forced the country into lockdown, making visiting impossible.

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But now she has taken comfort in the adorable doll as it keeps her company.

Rena smothered the baby in kisses saying she will 'never get over this beautiful baby ever' and wants to 'keep him'.

Now her real son Kenny McKinlay, 57, who was his mother's carer until a year ago when she joined the care home, has been left touched by the footage.

Speaking to the Daily Record he said: "It felt great to watch it, the video made me really happy to see her happy with that doll.

"Me and her are really close, we always have been. She's a great mother and really loving so not surprised by the video.

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"She has had dementia for about two and a half to three years. It's just been slowly progressing.

"She's got a brilliant personality, gets on with everyone and has a great sense of humour.

"My mum's always a good laugh."

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The mum of two and grand of six has had dementia for the last three years but still enjoyed regular visits from family before lockdown.

Kenny added: "We have never been apart for this long before."

"I'm always checking the website for new pictures and doing video calls with her. I really miss her.

"But I'm so glad she's happy in the home, especially right now.

"I haven't seen my mum since all this started with the virus, so it has been a while.

"I'm hoping I can visit soon but I'm scared about getting too close and her picking up an infection."

A spokesperson for the care home said: "A couple residents have their own dolls and we have mixed dolls ourselves, but Rena really took to this one.

"You can see in the video that it is really important to her.

"She's a very pleasant lady so it was lovely seeing the comfort this doll brought her. She just really wanted to nurture the new born baby.

"Our carers did a really good job of going into her reality instead of bringing her into ours and just being with her in that moment."

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