Hendrika van Genderen first came to the internet’s attention during the early days of the pandemic, after videos of her shopping at a pretend Coles went viral. Her son Jason and his wife, Megan, along with their four children, built the cardboard supermarket so that their mother and grandmother – who they all called Oma – could do her regular food shop at home. Having been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia, it was crucial that her routine was not disrupted.
Oma’s shopping trip was featured on The Late Late Show with James Corden and Good Morning America, and received more than 100m views worldwide. Oma’s various social media pages (run by Jason) received hundreds of thousands of new followers, all eager to hear her story and follow her progress. But it wouldn’t always be a heartwarming ride.
