We probably all know someone who suffers from Alzheimer's. According to the Alzheimer's Society there are now 750,000 sufferers, and one in 20 people of 60 has dementia.

One of those is my dad. One of five children born in a poor village, he went to live with a married sister in another country, and never saw his brothers again. Or at least not until April 2005, when we got a letter from a young man. In his family, he told us, there was a legend of a younger brother that left home, and settled in England. The family often spoke of this missing youngest brother, whom his father had last seen at the age of six. Tracing my father through the internet, the son was able to reunite his father and my father after sixty years.

It should have been a happy occasion. Two brothers meeting after 60 years of separation. What stories they could tell, the different paths they followed, and the families they made. But for the last ten years or more my father has had dementia, and doesn't even recognise me. Although he was looking at mirror image of himself, there was no flicker of interest in the older brother. It was painful to see the happiness of the older brother mixed with the frustration. If only they had met a decades earlier. But it is too late for my father. Dementia has taken his achievements and his failures and left a bare daily routine and a wife transformed into a carer.

This could be the fate of any of us, and more research is needed into lessening the impact of this devastating condition.

Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Alzheimer's Society will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.

December 2006 update:

My justgiving site will close down soon, so I just thought you might like to know how the fundraising went. Including the money raised from running the ING New York City Marathon (4 hours 13 mins), and the Clarkson Classic Car Day event, we have together raised £2,606.00 online. Another £500 was donated in cash and cheques. This is a total of just over £3100. This smashes the target I set myself of £2500. That is a fanstatic result by all of you.

I would like to thank you again for your donation, and I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Craig Jallal


Many thanks for your support,

Craig Jallal