Former German boxing professional René Weller (68) suffers from dementia. The ex-professional athlete is cared for by his wife Maria. But now the condition of the 68-year-old has deteriorated significantly. "René is now in total need of care. He can no longer do anything alone," explains Weller's wife in an interview with the "Bild" newspaper.

"He has trouble swallowing, needs help eating, showering, using the toilet." He recognizes her, but Weller no longer knows "that I am his wife". She has no prospect of relief. "We can't afford a place in a nursing home," says Maria Weller.

Weller's wife railed: "It's a luxury and has become unaffordable. That's how our Germany is. Pathetic." René Weller only gets a pension of 270 euros a month. "We still have some savings." If they had to fall back on it, "we'll soon be desperately poor" and "couldn't live anymore".

The boxing officials would no longer care about her husband. "He was just being taken advantage of," she continues. Doctors would also attribute his dementia to the multiple blows to his head he received during his boxing career. "Anyone who gets sick is left alone in the end." That makes Maria Weller "angry and sad".

In the summer of 2021, Maria Weller spoke to "Bild" about her husband's dementia. A nursing home was not an issue at the time. She declared: "As long as I can, I will be there for my René." In July 2022, the ex-boxer was admitted to the head clinic at Heidelberg University Hospital. "It literally slipped between my fingers," Maria, to whom he has been married since 2013, told the newspaper at the time. The clinic is "the only real way out. And I know that he is in the best hands there."

As a professional, Weller was, among other things, German Champion and two-time European Champion of the European Boxing Union (EBU). He ended his career almost 30 years ago. He was also seen on TV. In the summer of 2016, he and his wife took part in the RTL format "Das Sommerhaus der Stars".