Standing outside the register office in her wedding dress, nervous bride Rashi Parmar turned to her dad for reassurance.

But the man who was about to walk her down the aisle stared blankly back at her. He had no clue he was at a wedding, no idea he was father of the bride.

Dad-of-three Vrajlal Parmar, 68, was diagnosed with the late stages of Alzheimer’s in 2007.

By the next year he no longer recognised Rashi, 38.

Yet miraculously, just two years after her wedding day, Vrajlal knows who she is again.

Rashi believes it’s due to the daily dose of coconut oil he takes to treat his illness because doctors say his condition is too advanced for conventional drugs.

“I lost my dad to Alzheimer’s five years ago and I thought I would never get him back,” said Rashi. “But somehow I have, and it’s the most amazing thing.”

“He missed my wedding because I was a stranger to him. Then three months ago he suddenly started asking for me again and recognising me.”

As a little girl, Rashi and her factory worker dad were close. “He was the kindest, funniest man and I thought the world of him,” she recalled.

But in 2007 Vrajlal, who lives with his wife Taramati, 64, in Harrow, Middlesex, began to behave strangely. Within a year he could barely do anything for himself. The real blow came when he no longer recognised his own daughter.

Desperate for a cure, Rashi’s brother Kal, 31, found a YouTube video posted by a doctor in Florida who was treating her husband’s Alzheimer’s with coconut oil. They decided to try it on Vrajlal, who now takes six tablespoons a day.

“Within a month his mood completely changed,” said Rashi. “He became calmer and relaxed. He started shaving, then bathing on his own. Then one day he gave me a hug and said my name. It was the most emotional moment.”

The family are now campaigning for a full medical trial into the benefits of coconut oil, which is believed to encourage the body to produce organic matter to provide an energy source for brain cells. The Alzheimer’s Society said: “We don’t yet have any strong scientific evidence to back up claims coconut oil has benefits.”

But Kal, who is making a film about his father’s story, says: “We’re certain this has helped Dad, so I know it can help others.”