Unresponsive Alzheimer’s sufferer transformed by son’s performance

Appearing at first comatose and barely responsive, mother Judy Fraley undergoes a startling transformation over the course of son Joe’s musical performance, applauding, speaking and even standing to thank him in a new video.

Suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, 70-year-old Ms Fraley was rapidly deteriorating in the care of a Californian hospice just two years after being diagnosed with the disease.

After losing all memory of her son, she had degenerated even further to the point she was no longer eating and was feared to be on the brink of death.

Hoping to soothe his mother, Mr Fraley brought along a guitar on a visit to the hospice and played her a recently composed song.

"She would always love my songs and hearing them ... when she got Alzheimer's, I would play to her not just for the sake of playing to her but it was therapeutic -- because I felt it would relieve her pain," he told The Huffington Post.

While Mr Fraley initially had no plans on sharing the video, his mother’s subsequent decline encouraged him to share it on YouTube. Posted today, it follows on the heels of a previous performance Joe posted in October, 2014.

Garnering almost two million hits, this touching video reveals the enduring role music has had in his relationship with his mother despite the devastating effect Alzheimer’s has had on her.