Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

 Myself, Calvin & Cassidy and obviously Mabel!!  have decided to do a virtual walk to Sorrento in Italy in Kevs memory - this is the one place Kev and I never got to go back to. This is 1584 miles (3688661 steps) from our home in Billingham to the Hotel in Sorrento we wanted to go to. We plan to do it over 16 weeks, starting Monday 14th August. We plan on ending the virtual walk  at Cowpen Bewley Woodland Park where we are awaiting Kevs memorial bench to be fitted.

I know that it might not be something everybody knows but Kev took his own life. I wanted you all to know a little bit of a back story around this. Kev had been going through a lot of tests due to some huge changes he was going through - we believed it to be Parkinsons Disease. However after Kevs death I had the chance to talk to his consultant who confirmed that Kev had Frontotemporal Dementia. This is an uncommon form of dementia that affects personality and behaviour - the outlook is poor and most people end their lives in care homes with a very poor quality of life. Lifespan from diagnosis can be as little as 5 years. Kev did not know that he had this but he knew he was poorly and that he was changing into a person he did not want to be. His consultant said the illness would have made Kev believe that suicide was the best option.

We are luckier than most as we at least have a reason as to why Kev took his life. Many people never get answers and are stuck with no answers or explanations. This is why we chose to do the walk in aid of Survivors Of Bereavement By Suicide. I attend the group every month and it has been a great comfort to talk to others who fully understand how I feel and help me make sense of the very dark places my brain takes me too. Grief is never easy but losing a loved one to suicide makes this more complicated due to the anger, frustration and guilt that has to be endured.

Any donation no matter how small will help keep this amazing group running to support more families who are grieving.

If anybody wants to talk about Kevs story please just get in touch - I am more than happy to talk about it.