Woman steps up in memory of gran
She will walk 90 miles to raise cash for Parkinson’s disease charity
AHEARTBROKEN granddaughter has opened up on the struggle of watching her beloved gran lose her battle with Parkinson’s disease.
Jennifer Dyer, from Croftfoot, revealed that her grandmother was in “denial” for a long time prior to her passing.
Mary, who had 11 grandchildren, sadly died in 2019 at the age of 87.
Jennifer, below, said: “She was diagnosed with Parkinson’s just before her 80th birthday.
“She was a very independent woman, she just didn’t want people to know that she had an illness.
“But she did really well with it, she fought it for a good five years before it started to deteriorate.”
Mary, who had a very busy exercise routine, would attend weekly dance classes and Tai Chi to stay fit and healthy.
Jennifer added: “She did end up in a home where she needed constant 24-hour care, which was obviously really difficult to see and in the last two years of her life the dementia kicked in.
“It was really sad because I was always really close to my gran growing up. She had 11 grandkids and she just had time for everyone. She was just great, everyone who knew her absolutely adored her.”
Now, Jennifer is preparing to
take on a 90-mile challenge in memory of her gran. It marks the third fundraising campaign the 27-year-old has taken on to raise awareness of the brain condition. She said: “When she passed away I made a promise to myself that I wanted to do as much fundraising as possible to raise awareness. “Parkinson’s might come to me at some point and if that is
the case then I hope that by that point there is further funding in place and more awareness of the condition.”
Jennifer had originally planned to organise the event on the day that would have been Mary’s 90th birthday but has unfortunately been unable to do so. Instead, she will walk three miles every day throughout the whole month.
Jan Mattison, West of Scotland regional fundraiser for Parkinson’s UK, said: “We really want to thank her and wish her lots of luck every step of the way.
“There are more than 1000 people with Parkinson’s in Glasgow City and these are difficult times for our community.”
To donate to Jennifer’s fundraiser, visit justgiving.com/ fundraising/jenniferdyer-90