Derry woman taking on a huge walking challenge in memory of her mum

A Derry woman is completing 79 walks for Alzheimer's Society in memory of her mum.

Elizabeth Diamond, who was known to her friends as Bertha, was a loving wife and mother and looked after her grandchildren for many years.

Her daughter Marie Ward, who retired as Assistant Director of Human Resources in the Western Health and Social Care Trust two months ago, aims to raise £3,000 for Alzheimer’s Society by the second anniversary of her mum’s passing.

Marie remembers her mum, who passed away in February 2020, as “kind, decent, caring and funny”.

“She was just an amazing mum. She always put me first and family was everything. She cared for me and my kids her whole life, looking after them too when they were younger to allow me to go to work and was so kind, decent, caring and funny,” she recalled.

“For years she loved to play darts and set up the Waterside Women’s Darts League so should be remembered by quite a few involved with that and in her later years she just loved her wee shopping trips, particularly to Newcastle. I have many good memories to rely on when I start to remember the not so good stuff that happened with her illness.”

The first signs of Elizabeth’s Alzheimer’s disease began to show around seven years ago when she began to get forgetful about dates.

It became progressively more serious as the years went by and as her family were to learn the condition affects more than just a person’s memory.

“Mum lived independently with my dad James in her bungalow in Kilfennan.

“However, over a number of years this horrible disease took everything away from the person I loved.

“I have to admit I used to think that Alzheimer’s was memory loss and how wrong I was. In the early stages mum would forget dates and words and recall of short-term events. She would repeat her stories quite a lot.

“Then it progressed to difficulty in piecing together what she wanted to say or to follow others in conversation, she lost the ability to cook and needed more and more care.

“However, she could remember events from a long time ago when she was younger.

“We then experienced the mood swings, sometimes irritation over the slightest things and sometimes she would become withdrawn.

“In the end there were times when she couldn’t remember eating.

“Food was unfamiliar to her and she would have difficulty swallowing but worst of all were her repeating pleas for help.”

James Diamond sadly passed away in May 2019 aged 81, just nine months before his wife.

“Sometimes she remembered he was gone and other times not,” said Marie.

“It was just awful but I am grateful that she knew me till the end.”

Following her mum’s sad passing Marie decided she wanted to raise money for Alzheimer’s Society who provide help and support to people living with dementia and their loved ones.

“I am doing 79 walks for Dementia because that was the age my mum was when she died, so it’s one walk for each year of her life.

“Mum didn’t walk herself but she lived in both the Cityside and Waterside of Derry~Londonderry so I’m going to walk the two bridges, the Craigavon Bridge and the Foyle Bridge, because it captures the city.

“It’s a nice walk of seven miles with lovely scenery.

“I’m no athlete and whilst this would be easy for others it’s a challenge for me and 79 walks at seven miles per walk is 553 miles.

“However, I also want 79 partners to walk with me. They can do the walk for someone they love that has or had dementia, they can do it for the charity or just to support me.

“It doesn’t have to be the two bridges, I’m also open to doing a walk that means something to my partner on the day.

“The money raised will be used to support people locally here in Northern Ireland.”

Marie has decided to donate £10 for every walk herself, which gives her a starting total of £790.

She is asking everyone who walks with her donate £20 and they can also ask for sponsorship if they wish.

Marie has started a Facebook page called ’79WalksForDementia’ where she will share a photo of each walk and her walking companion. She will also invite them to write a paragraph and share a photo of the person they are doing the walk in memory of or in tribute to.

“I want to do two to three walks a week,” she explained. “This will take me at least six months. My goal is to have it all completed before my mum’s second anniversary in February 2022.”

Jenay McCarten, Community Fundraiser for Alzheimer’s Society in Northern Ireland, said: "Following a difficult year for people with dementia, we are in awe of supporters like Marie whose brilliant fundraising efforts enable us to reach more people through our vital support services, like the Dementia Connect support line.

“Our services have been used over five million times since March 2020 and have been a lifeline to thousands, but there are so many more who urgently need our help.”

If you would like to find out more about Marie’s challenge you can visit her Facebook page ’79WalksForDementia’ where you will also find the link to her Just Giving page.

From running your local 5K to trekking the Great Wall of China, and cycling from London to Paris to parachuting, Alzheimer's Society has a fantastic range of events both in the UK and abroad. Unite with us now at www.alzheimers.org.uk