Hundreds in Southwestern Ontario walk to raise funds for Alzheimer’s Society
Tony Paul had a hard time putting words together when speaking about his late wife Susan.
Paul was one of hundreds in four locations in Southwestern Ontario walking to raise money for Alzheimer’s Society Southwest, which helped him through his journey before Susan passed away less than two years ago.
“It lasted about 10 years,” says Paul.
“She was very young, 67, when she passed away. So it was gradual at first and then took a real down spike near the end for the last couple of years.”
Paul and his team raised $12,000 as part of the $150,000 the society was hoping to raise by the end of the annual walk.
“It’s important to keep the program's going for 13,000 people in this vicinity that are in need of support for Alzheimer's and other dementia,” says Paul.
There is no cure as of yet, and each year they hope to gain ground, but find the disease is more complicated than originally thought.
“We've got you know, 500,00-750,000 Canadians with dementia now,” says Dr. Stephen Pasternak, a cognitive neurologist at Parkwood Hospital in London, Ont.
Pasternak believes there will be close to a million people living with Alzheimer’s and Dementia in the near future, and doesn’t believe the hospital system is ready.
“We have nice places in London (that) have multi-year waiting lists. Our medical system is already overwhelmed,” he said. “We desperately need to have some sort of treatment that actually helps. And we have treatments that help a little bit. We can take some of the edges off, but we don't actually have anything that can fix anyone.”
Pasternak says the disease affects not only the patient, but their families and caregivers.
He’s excited to be taking part in the walk, and seeing programs return because COVID has been devastating for patients who lost services.
“It's been more devastating for caregivers who have had all of the all of the escapes shut down,” says Pasternak.
“A patient and a caregiver like literally have nothing to do and they are locked together. And so you know the incredible mental health strain on caregivers has just been unbelievable.”
Those wishing to donate to the walk can do so here.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NEW Is there a cost to convenience? Canada approves new cancer immunotherapy treatment
A new cancer treatment recently approved in Canada promises to cut treatment time down to just minutes, but experts have differing opinions on whether it's what's best for patients.
King Charles III returns to public duties with a trip to a cancer charity
King Charles III will return to public duties on Tuesday when he visits a cancer treatment charity, beginning his carefully managed comeback after the monarch’s own cancer diagnosis sidelined him for three months.
Canada's new dental program offering hope of free care to millions but many dentists aren't signed up
A new Canadian dental care program is offering the hope of free care to millions, but while 1.7 million people have signed up for the plan, only about 5,000 dentists have done the same.
NDP says Ottawa's new grocery task force isn't living up to government promises
The federal government says the task force it created to monitor and investigate grocery retailers' practices has not conducted any probes and doesn't have a mandate to take enforcement action.
Archeologists search for remnants of Halifax's 250-year-old wall that surrounded the city
Archeologist Jonathan Fowler is using ground-penetrating radar to search for historic evidence of the massive wall that surrounded Halifax more than 250 years ago.
Air Canada walks back new seat selection policy change after backlash
Air Canada has paused a new seat selection fee for travellers booked on the lowest fares just days after implementing it.
Province boots mayor and council in small northern Ont. town out of office
An ongoing municipal strike, court battles and revolt by half of council has prompted the province to oust the mayor and council in Black River-Matheson.
Winner of US$1.3 billion Powerball jackpot is an immigrant from Laos who has cancer
One of the winners of a historic US$1.3 billion Powerball jackpot last month is an immigrant from Laos who has had cancer for eight years and had his latest chemotherapy treatment last week.
Anne Hathaway reveals she's now five years sober
Anne Hathaway first shared she lost interest in drinking after a bad hangover in 2018. She’s now five years sober.