My father was diagnosed when he was 57 with picks disease in 2016, at the time I was 24. It was a complete shock to all of my family, even though we went through the same with my uncle, its sound naive but we never thought my dad would have it. As a family we had to support each other, all the difficult times when his temper flares up because hes panicing over slight changes around the house or trying to find out about his finances and he gets very protective over them. It's so hard to understand what to do in these types of difficult situations when you have never experienced them before and I know if I would have read about someone my age who's family were going through this, it would have been such a great help. Within three months of the diagnosis I felt I had to mature very quickly for my mum and dad. For 30 years my dad did all of the finances and now it was down to me and the thought was very scary. He has been living with picks for 4 years now. The deterioration has been quite slow, however he finds it hard to show emotion and his recognition of certain objects and people is getting worse. We try and support him and make sure he is as happy as possible. 

I have walked the Memory Walk three times in total in Nottingham. This year, due to the COVID restrictions I am taking part in my own memory walk in Derbyshire. On Sunday 11th October, me, my fiancé, my brother, mum and dad will be going for a 4 mile walk to raise money for dementia research. 

I want to raise money for Alzheimer’s Society but also raise awareness about dementia for other families just like mine. We knew so little about dementia, especially that it can be hereditary, so taking part in a Memory Walk is a chance to share our experiences and help other families who are going through the same difficulties. If I had read about someone my age whose family was going through the same thing, I would have found it a huge help, so I wanted to provide that for other people.