Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving I'm running the Virgin London Marathon on the 23rd April 2017 because I was lucky enough to gain entry via a ballot place with my running club Black Pear Joggers. Training has begun for my first (and probably last ever) Marathon and will definitely be taking over my life from January to April. I'm sure there will be plenty of hiccups but I will work SO hard and run my absolute best 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️

Sadly last August my lovely Mother finally passed away after a long battle with Alzheimer's Disease. She was a very proud and private lady, so to give her the respect she deserves, I won't go into full details of her decline.
But, there is NO cure for Alzheimer's Disease. I have witnessed this disease first hand and it slowly, very slowly takes away your very SOUL and a diagnosis IS a death sentence!!!!
It takes away your memory, and your memory makes a person who they are. Gradually and cruelly you lose your total identity. My Mum didn't remember anything at the end, no happy memories to make her smile. She had NO recollection of her parents, her brother/sister, her husband, her children or grandchildren. She could remember absolutely nothing!!!!
Not only does Alzheimer's take away your memory, but it begins to shut down your brain so you can no longer remember how to move, walk, eat, drink or talk.
This disease is SO CRUEL because EVERYTHING is taken away and YOU are no longer there. It then finally takes your LIFE, although as any family member would tell you the 'person' had disappeared years before!!!
In her last lonely and helpless days the ONLY thing my Mum recognised was her name "Eileen" and I take comfort from talking to and holding her until the very end. 😢
A cure must be found and I'm extremely grateful for any donation BIG or SMALL to help with research and development of a cure for this awful disease. Please help if you can, but if you can't I understand and that's okay.
If I have managed to raise a little bit of awareness and you can ever help somebody who is lost or can't remember where they are (this happened often to my Mother) then running 26.2 miles is worth every step.
So many people helped my Mother and I can never thank them enough.

' Life without memory is no life at all'

Thank you xxxxx

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