A 41-year-old man in Malaysia has died from Alzheimer’s disease, more than two years after he was diagnosed.
Mr Josiah Koit passed away on Tuesday (20 Oct) after being bedridden since August, his father said in a Facebook post.
Source: Josiah Koit on Facebook
The father, Mr Jeff Koit, said his eldest son was diagnosed with “fast-track” Alzheimer’s disease in August 2024.
Since then, his brain started shutting down, he added.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, the disease is a type of dementia that affects memory, thinking and behaviour.
Its symptoms gradually worsen over a number of years, eventually escalating to an inability to carry on with daily life.
The majority of people afflicted with Alzheimer’s are aged 65 and above, so sufferers younger than that are considered to have early-onset Alzheimer’s.
Sufferers usually live an average of four to eight years after being diagnosed.
However, by August this year — just two years after his diagnosis — Mr Koit was “totally bedridden, tube-fed and reduced to skin and bones”, his father said.
His lungs also got infected two times.
He eventually succumbed to pneumonia earlier this week and was cremated on Saturday (24 Oct).
Source: Jeff Koit on Facebook
His father said he was thankful to God for easing his pain, saying his son was now “free from his pain and suffering”.
Mr Koit’s colleague paid tribute to him in a Facebook post of her own on Wednesday (21 Oct), saying they shared laughter, silly moments and good times.
The woman named Liz, who is a year older than the deceased, said he sat next to her at the bank where they both worked.
Source: Liz Li Li on Facebook
She shared a few memories of him, including a prank he played on her when she returned from vacation, their inside jokes, him playing with a lion toy between their cubicles, and a Christmas gathering at a mutual friend’s house.
Source: Liz Li Li on Facebook
Though they did not keep in touch as often after they left the bank, “the memories are still there”, she maintained.
Liz said she had known about Mr Koit’s condition for the past two years.
But as his condition progressed, he could not use his phone and social media as he did before, she revealed.
The last time she had sent him a recording of a song that annoyed him was on 24 Aug 2020.
That recording is now “a small piece of their shared history”, she maintained, adding:
Thank you for these memories, Josiah. They will always bring a smile to my face.
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Featured image adapted from Josiah Koit on Facebook and Jeff Koit on Facebook.