My second marathon was run for a reason – to support the Fight Dementia campaign to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s Australia Victoria. The short video pretty much says it all so please take the time to watch it (believe me it wasn’t easy to record!).
In Australia today there are well over 250,000 people living with dementia and by 2050 it is expected that this number will be more than 1 million people. It is likely that every person that watches this video will be touched by dementia. Check out this site http://www.fightdementia.org.au/
In my case its my Mum.
My Mum’s name is Cathy and she’s in her early 70’s and she has been living with dementia for a couple of years now. About six months ago things deteriorated to a point that the Doctors and my father didn’t feel she was able to manage her day to day life at home.
Mum has since moved into a permanent care facility or aged care home while my Dad still lives in the family home that he and Mum have shared for over 40 years. She doesn’t like the facility she has moved into and she doesn’t like being away from her home.
Don’t get me wrong the people at the aged care home are lovely and Mum has made some new friends and she gets regular visitors – but its not her home and its not where she wants to be.
It’s tough when someone close to you is living with dementia and you see them struggling to remember things or complete tasks that were once simple. There appears to be nothing you can do to fix things or help them.
So I decided that raising funds for the Fight Dementia campaign is the best way that I can assist the amazing people at the Alzheimer’s Australia Vic as they raise awareness and provide support to people living with dementia.
And maybe I could do something that will help my Mum while she still remembers me.
I raised over $3,000 through my fundraising from some amazingly generous people including friends, family, work colleagues and anonymous donors. I now stay involved with Alzheimer’s Australia Vic and help out when and where I can. You can find out more about how the Fight Dementia campaign and other information at the following sites.
Fight Dementia Sites:
http://www.fightdementia.org.au/
http://www.fightdementia.org.au/victoria.aspx
Mind Your Mind Site:
http://mindyourmind.org.au/
Thanks for your support.
gpontherun 