In 2007 my Dad Roger was diagnosed with a rare type of Dementia affecting his speech and language abilities, he was only 55. Over the years bits of Dad started to fade away but when he was alert you could still see his infectious personality shine through. Dad passed away peacefully on the 31st of January 2023 at the age of 70, 16 days before his 71st Birthday with his family around him.

Rare Dementia Support (RDS) (part of the national Brain Appeal) were a big help to my parents and the family from the early days of diagnosis helping my Dad and the family get the suppport we needed with various medical and health care specialists that could help Roger. They also helped the family  meet others living with rare types of dementia as well as writing letters to the GP and providing legal support and advice. They were also very good and non patronising at sharing updates on new findings about different types of dementia that helped us understand what Dad was going through and how to support him further.

I am a keen runner but had no intention of entering a marathon just yet. When my mum suggested I run for RDS in memory of Dad I had to do it. I applied to RDS on 19th Feb and am so pleased they agreed to let me run for them, especially this close to the 23rd April.

Thank you for reading, anything you can do to support this great charity in memory of Roger will be much appreciated.