Meet my Grandma Sylvia.

Sylvia was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at the beginning of the original lockdown in 2020. 5 years on she’s still battling, with many hospital trips and little scares inbetween.

Watching the process of Alzheimer’s take place is heartbreaking; it can be a slow process or very quick one which differs from person to person. For Sylvia it started with slight forgetfulness and the loss of strength in her legs, which made us implement a stair lift in their home so she could still go to bed with her husband upstairs. It then became necessary to move the dining table out and get a bed set up downstairs for her where she will stay most of the day unless moved to her chair by her carers.

It didn’t take long to notice the changes in memory, forgetting the names of those closest to you first is one of the cruelest parts about this disease. However through all of that she will still remember that she loves you despite not being able to name you as well as always having a massive smile on her face as you can see.

Sylvia is proof that this can happen to anyone. Prior to it she loved to go to her Zumba classes and go down to church, despite being 76 at the time. She has never smoked and was one of the healthiest elderly people you could meet. This is why I feel it’s so important to raise money and fight back against Dementia, there doesn’t seem to be a single way to prevent it currently and I sincerely hope that can change in my lifetime.