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
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.