A Lincoln woman has spoken of her family’s heartache at the death of her grandfather, who suffered with dementia.
Emily Marron, 22, says the pain of the death of her grandfather, Malcolm Ingleson is still raw – two years after he passed away.
The 81-year-old had spent his lifetime as an accountant and was married to his wife, Marlene for 59 years.
However, after initially displaying signs of forgetfulness, the grandfather-of-two began to deteriorate quickly and as the disease took hold.
Unable to cope with his growing demands, he was placed in a care home, where he died in 2014.
Now his family are planning to hold a special event to honour his memory and help others going through a similar situation.
“My granddad was really clever and had been an accountant his whole life,” said Miss Marron, who has recently graduated from the University of Lincoln.
“Once he was diagnosed, you see his condition start to deteriorate – it was really sad.
“He lived in Bedford with my grandma, so we would go and see them every two to three weeks.
“I was about 12 when he was diagonosed. At the time I didn’t really understand what was happening. My grandma would say ‘Granddad has forgotten where he has put something again’, but I think that was just to make light of the situation.
“He was a proper granddad – I didn’t see him that often, but when I did he would pick me up from school and take me to the park.
“Near his house were some woods, he would always take me out and we would have a lot of fun together.”
But as his condition worsened, he began to display symptoms that were out of character.
“I remember once we went to Mallorca as a family, but it was the last time he went away as he was just so disorientated.
“He would get violent as well – it was hard to see, but we had to remember it was the disease and not him.”
The family are now holding a memory walk this Saturday, September 23 at Whisby Nature Park with all proceeds going towards helping other families whose loved ones are suffering with the condition.
“We are going to be doing a two mile walk around Whisby Nature Reserve,” added Miss Marron.
“We have 55 people who have signed up and all have had sponsorship forms which will see money raised going to the Alzheimers Society.
“Last year we raised just under £1000, but we have more than double the people signed up this time so we should easily raise at least £2000.
“I would like to thank everyone who has supported us so far, especially the volunteers at the dementia café, Sharney at the Alzheimers Society and Sarah Ward who has helped to get raffle prizes.”
If you would like to take part or sponsor anyone taking part, you can get in touch with Miss Marron on 07850310494