Michael's Grandad was diagnosed with vascular dementia 7 years ago and sadly passed away February of this year. Michael retraced his Grandad's steps by walking from Cardenden in Fife to Raphoe in County Donegal. This was completed over 7 days covering a staggering 230 miles and more than 500,000 steps. Michael explains his inspirational story:
" My Grandad was born and raised in Raphoe in County Donegal from 1928 until 1947 at which point he moved over to Scotland to work on building sites. It was while over here that he met my Gran and they settled and married, living in Cardenden for 73 years. He holidayed regularly in Ireland though and was always proud of his heritage and made regular visits back to Raphoe. His last remaining sibling Eunan still lives in Raphoe in the family home where they all grew up. My Grandad was a keen walker and this was something that we used to do regularly together and was time that I always loved and looked forward to. When I was thinking of something I could do to raise money for Alzheimer Scotland I knew it had to be a walk.
"This was why I decided to retrace his steps from 5 May 1947 where he made the hardest journey of his life and came to Scotland from Raphoe. I walked from Cardenden where he lived with my Gran and raised the family, to Raphoe in County Donegal, Ireland to his brother and the family home there. I took Eunan a Hamilton clan tartan scarf which my Grandad owned as a memento of my Grandad with me and presented it to him on my arrival along with a tie pin with the Scottish and Irish flags. The walk was roughly speaking 230 miles and I did it in 7 days.
"I walked across the Road Bridge before crossing the country through Newmains and onto Ayr, where I took up the coastal path down to Cairnryan for the ferry to Belfast. I then walked through Antrim onto Strabane and across the border to Raphoe to be greeted by a lone piper who led me to the family home to present Eunan with the scarf. It was really humbling and touching. It took a massive effort to get there and involved walking more than 500,000 steps. It was so emotional when I reached the end and I just hope that I did you proud Grandad.
"My Grandad attended a club at the local school and always looked forward to going to this. Over the years his movement deteriorated significantly and he struggled more with day to day tasks. He always had my Gran for support and she looked after him at home with help from the family. We were unaware of a lot of the support out there until later into his time with dementia, but used the website for information around caring for someone with dementia and became aware of the helpline etc. I would just like to make others aware of this as I am sure it will help them and their family and friends in dealing with dementia."
So far, Michael has raised over £4,000 for Alzheimer Scotland in dedication to his Grandad. Huge well done! You can donate to Michael's JustGiving page which closes 25 July 2023, you can donate here.