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Woman with dementia records ‘My Way’ after video of her singing with caregiver goes vira

Margaret Mackie is not a household name in the music industry, but she’s getting there in a hurry.

The 83-year-old dementia patient from Scotland has gone viral on YouTube with her heart-melting duet of "My Way" with her caregiver, Jamie Lee Morley.

The pair recorded a single of the song, with proceeds going to Dementia UK and the Alzheimer's Society.

People with elderly parents will have a tough time avoiding the tissues after watching the sweet, sentimental ballad made famous by Frank Sinatra. But Mackie is not ready to face the final curtain just yet. She’s content to keep singing.

Morley, a musician who works as a food server at the Northcare Suites Care Home in Edinburgh since it opened last fall, told The Washington Post he was walking past a lounge at the center when he heard a lovely voice singing Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love."

Morley told the newspaper he thought someone had left the radio on, but then he saw Mackie singing the song in perfect pitch.

"I was stunned," Morley, 31, told the Post. "I've loved singing and music since I was a little lad, and I could just tell that Margaret did, too. Her voice is amazing."

Morley and Mackie sang "My Way" at the care home's Christmas party in December, CBS News reported. A video of the duet was posted to YouTube and quickly went viral.

"Every day in work we sing this song together and I do whatever I can to brighten her day and all the other residents," Morley wrote on YouTube. "For those close to me will know this was my Grandad's funeral song who our family sadly lost to Alzheimer's last year. I've never really sang this song, as it's a classic, but I knew how much Margaret and her family would love it."

Mackie's family attended the Christmas party and enjoyed the duet, CBS News reported.

They are even more delighted with the response to the video.

"It has brought her back to life. The dementia was taking a hold of her and she was getting sad with it, but this has given her a new lease of life," Mackie's daughter, Mairi Hunter, told the BBC. "It's quite remarkable how she can remember the lyrics. It just seems to come back to her.

“She wants everyone to be happy. People cry when they hear the song and she’ll say ‘No don’t cry, I want you to be happy.’”

Meanwhile, the recording of "My Way" is No. 6 on the United Kingdom's Amazon download chart and at one point reached No. 27 on iTunes' Top 40 in the U.K., the Post reported. That's ahead of Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande and Ed Sheeran, the newspaper reported.

Morley filmed his excursion with Mackie to the recording studio and released the single and a music video to go with it Dec,. 28, CBS News reported. The music video has had nearly 200,000 views since its release.

Mackie, a former whiskey distillery worker, rarely remembers one day from the next, the Post reported. She came to Northcare Suites in October from another care center, Jordan Simpson, manager of Northcare Suites, told the newspaper.

While Mackie might be forgetful, she never forgets the lyrics to her favorite songs, Simpson said.

"Singing is something that makes Margaret happy. She has a great singing voice," Simpson told the Post. "And although she has dementia, she has a great memory for song lyrics. She and Jamie sing together most of the day."

Mackie said she wouldn't mind recording another song, and joked about recording an entire album, the BBC reported.

"It's great seeing your face in all those newspapers," Mackie told the BBC. "It's nice to have a busy life like that, every now and then."

The single can be purchased on iTunes here.

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