Hi, I’m Luke. Thank you for giving some time to visit my page 🙏

My Story:

When I was 11 years old my dad passed away at the age of 45 from a very rare form of dementia called Familial Alzheimer’s Disease (FAD).

This disease is caused by a mutation in a specific gene which if inherited means you will go on to develop FAD.

Any child of a parent diagnosed with FAD, will have a 50% chance of inheriting that same mutant gene and therefore inheriting the disease.

The onset of symptoms in FAD occurs usually at a relatively young age, usually 30’s or 40’s.

Luckily this disease is extremely rare and accounts for less than 1% of Alzheimer’s Disease cases overall.

Because my dad had the disease, both myself and my sister had a 1 in 2 chance of inheriting the disease ourselves.

After taking a genetic test myself 8 years ago to discover if I had inherited the gene, it was revealed that I hadn’t.

Unfortunately for my sister, things weren’t the same and sadly she continues to this day to suffer from this terrible illness. She is 42 years old.

The Charity:

Alzheimer’s Research UK currently funds a number of research projects specifically into FAD and so I am aiming to raise money for these projects and spread awareness about this very little known form of Alzheimer’s.

It’s my hope that the funds and awareness I get from running the marathon can help not only the research into a cure for FAD but also the support network around those who are affected by it.

For more information about FAD you can visit this website:

https://www.raredementiasupport.org/familial-alzheimers-disease/understanding-fad/

Thank you for all your support 💜

(You can follow all my marathon training updates on Strava ✌️)