MY STORY 

Ok, so most of you know my story!

My brother, was a very fit healthy fun loving man who had a routine hip replacement operation that speeded up early symptoms of dementia. So, 2 years later on, and 62 years young, he was in a residential home unable to speak, barely able to walk, and slowly being taken away from us by this terrible illness. In December 2023 after 9 years of suffering, and battling against this debilitating disease Ian ‘Slash’ Howarth lost his struggle surrounded by his loving family.

Last year my wife and I were having a quiet drink in a country pub where we randomly met a lovely couple, started chatting about life in general, and soon became good friends. So, as you can imagine we were devastated to learn that our new lovely friend Sarah at the young age of 56 had herself been diagnosed with young onset frontal temporal dementia. She was worried and reluctant to mention anything to us due to past loss of friendships caused by the ignorance and a total lack of understanding of the disease.

I never understood this horrific disease myself until my brother was sadly diagnosed. It was difficult for me to take in, I struggled, and saw myself how friendships of people who once rushed to be part of my brothers company and conversation, slowly avoided and backed away from him the more his illness took over. So, I totally understood Sarah’s initial concerns of discussing this very personal dilemma with us. However, I was astounded and taken aback by her positive and constructive perception of her life going forwards.  From this I decided to form a plan to try and help bring an understanding, some awareness, and to educate others who may unfortunately cross paths with this horrendous disease, through their loved ones and friends.

THE PLAN

Together with Sarah’s son Tom, and are other friend Nick, who is running in memory of his mother in law Brenda and Nan Vera, we are going to run the Great North Run (GNR) this September to raise awareness, support, and to help young people with dementia in the future so they no longer need to suffer in silence alone.

We hope to raise as much money as possible for the Admiral Nurses who selflessly support families with the many complex challenges of the condition, providing free, specialist advice to help people stay independent for longer, and to support the people caring for them so that they will have the strength to cope with the bad days, and the energy to enjoy the good days.

We hope to raise approximately £2000 which will provide a brand new Admiral Nurse for a whole day to 10 families offering life-changing, specialist support.  So every penny counts and your help would be greatly appreciated!!

Once again many thanks, and we really appreciate any donations you can give.

Thank You 

Andy, Tom & Nick 

Aka: Triggers Troops