My Dad always told me I could be anything and do anything I wanted. He always told me to do what made me happy and not to let anything stand in my way.

I remember the day I got accepted to start my Events Management degree in Glasgow. My Dad told me that this was the first day of the rest of my life and how proud he was of me. Cliché much Dad, I rolled my eyes and never even acknowledged it. I was used to hearing him tell me he proud of me.

Four long years later, and many a tantrum thrown over dissertations and essays, I was finally done and graduating. 4th July 2017 was my graduation and of course my Dad was there cheering the loudest. I couldn't even pretend I was embarrassed, he'd got me to that moment, he could cheer as loud as he wanted!

Living away from home and only seeing my Dad every  3 - 4 months was hard already, but then I realised his memory wasn't as good as it used to be. He started forgetting simple things and I had to repeat myself several times. It drove me insane. I couldn't understand why he didn't just remember or listen harder.

It wasn't until December 2018, that Dad finally got the courage to go for the test he needed. Even though the results were what we expected, it was still a massive shock to hear that my Dad has Alzheimer's.  Suddenly, it was my turn to be the adult. I did all the research, I read all the books, I googled and poured over the Alzheimer's Society website learning everything I could. I started writing letters home to him so that he could read them over and over, hoping it would help.

My Dad who fixed my bike, my Dad who painted my bedroom many shades of pink when I couldn't decide on the colour, my Dad who taught me how to fix a blown fuse over the phone, my Dad who always cheered the loudest was going to slowly slip away from me.

My biggest cheerleader no longer remembered some of the proudest achievements of my life. He didn't remember the battle we had over him wearing a suit to my graduation, he didn't remember sitting in a sweltering church for hours and he didn't remember cheering me on. It no longer felt like I could do anything or be anything because he wasn't always going to be there for me, cheering me on and telling me how proud he was.

My Dad told me I could do anything, so I'm going to run London Marathon on Sunday 2 October.

Alzheimer’s Society is there for everyone affected by dementia.

By 2025, 1 million people will be living with the condition in the UK, and many millions more carers, partners, families and friends are affected.

Lack of treatments and postcode lottery for care means that people with dementia and their families aren’t getting the support they need, when they need it. Please consider donating today to ensure that no-one faces a dementia diagnosis alone.