I actually initially applied to run the Berlin Marathon in 2022, in order to raise awareness about Dementia & Alzheimers. Conditions that I had previously had little experience with, and only understood what textbooks or the internet described as symptoms. This doesn't come close to reality, merly scratches the surface

It is only when it affects someone you know, as with my mother in-law-Silvia, that you can truly come to appreciate how utterly heart-breaking this disease is. It’s like watching a photographer fade day by day. Someone who was once a strong independent woman capable of raising three children by herself, whilst working and studying, becoming robbed of her personality, future and dignity, and becoming stuck in past memories.

Dementia stole her from us, she was just 69. Silvia sadly never got to meet her granddaughter, see her son get married, or experience anything else the future may have held. This should have been her time to enjoy herself and her life, her family.

We’re not the only ones, every 3 minutes’ dementia steals a happily-ever-after. Research is our only chance of changing the ending for people affected by dementia.

whilst incredibly sad, what happened to Silvia, I'll now be running the marathon in dedication to her memory, as she is no longer with us- but i'm hoping to touch enough people to raise awareness along the way and help others struggling with the same heartbreaking situation.

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