So my dad... where to start.

Brilliant, funny, slightly chaotic, always joking, witty, strong... the best. Apparently he was an alright footballer as well.

My dad started with dementia in his late 70s. He always insisted it was from heading the football as he played for Burnley, Blackpool, Barnsley and Bury and then went on to coach at Huddersfield, Rochdale, Colne Dynamoes before finishing his career back at Burnley.

He died in December 2021 in a nursing home. My big strong loving dad gone.

The deterioration was hard but, through the dementia in football campaign, Head for Change contacted us and they were extremely supportive of our family during an incredibly tough time. They want to make a difference in exploring the links between neurological disorders and sport and, while looking after sportspeople who now have dementia, they are also putting money into research so that the current sports-mad youngsters are not at risk like those who have gone before. They obviously need funding to do this.

I am a marathon runner- I have done around 30 - and my dad did two. I got his marathon medals when he died as I know how much they meant to him - more than his First Division championship medal in 1960 or his FA Cup final one in 1962 (which made history as it was the 100th goal ever scored at Wembley in an FA Cup final)

My mum used to come and cheer me on at the London Marathon - she loved the weekend - and her and my sister Melanie always stood at the 25-mile mark. My mum died in 2005 and my dad took over and he was always there. Last time I did it, I got there and we both cried. There will be a lot of tears at London Marathon 2022 at 25 miles but also a lot of pride.

As a family, and with a lot of other #dementiainfootball families, we want to make sure that people currently taking part in competitive sport don't have to suffer in later life from taking part in something they love. We don't want sport to kill them.