RIDING a thousand kilometres and raising $800 for Dementia Australia, Lake Boga cyclist Ann Murray was willing to go the distance after seeing what her mother went through.
“My mother had early on-set dementia,” Ms Murray said.
“She was 55 when she was diagnosed – the same age that I am now.
“For another 10 years she lived with it, and it’s hard – the person is still alive, but they’re not the same.
“Your loved one slowly disappears.”
Receiving an email from Dementia Australia earlier in the year to take part in a charity bike ride, Ms Murray noticed that participants could do as many kilometres as they wanted.
“So I decided, hmm – a thousand kilometres sounds good!”
Receiving a lot of support, Ms Murray raised close to a thousand dollars, and even rode over her set goal, completing approximately 1200km.
“As you could imagine, I was pretty happy with it,” she said.
“And I was lucky to have a lot of people telling me not to give up, saying, ‘You can do it!’.”
Ms Murray said Dementia Australia not only did a lot of research into the disease, which is the second biggest killer of Australian adults, but also provided support for carers.
“For people who are looking after a loved one with dementia, they can provide support and resources.”
