Kieran’s story: Fifteen peaks in one day

Kieran's Story:

I remember clearly the day I found out my mum Lillian had dementia. She was only 39 and I was 10 years old.

Life had been pretty normal until we started noticing mum was behaving differently. At first they thought it was depression but after months of tests we were told it was frontotemporal dementia. I remember mum just burst out crying, but I was too young to fully understand what it meant.

From that point, things seemed to go at 100 miles an hour. It seemed like she went from working one week, to then needing to have a carer visit once a day, then twice a day. My dad James was amazing and stayed by her side throughout it all. He looked after mum at home for as long as he could, as well as taking care of me. We also had support from Alzheimer Scotland which was a big help.

But soon it was no longer safe for mum to stay in the house and she moved into a local joint hospital. She was there around three years until she got pneumonia in 2015, and passed away a couple of days later, aged just 48.

My dad had always been a fit and active guy, but in 2023 he was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis. He needed a double lung transplant and, while we found a donor, we couldn’t get the surgery in time and he passed away in 2024 aged 54. It was really tough to lose them both so young.

I’m 29 now and this experience has made me realise that life is short and you have to make the most of it. Me and my fiancée Angelika are always out somewhere, going hillwalking or on holiday.

I’ve always kept myself fit, so I decided to take on a really big challenge to raise money for Alzheimer Scotland, who do amazing work for families affected by dementia. I’m also raising money for St Margaret of Scotland Hospice who cared for my dad in his final weeks.

The Welsh 3000 is one of the biggest challenges in the UK and involves climbing 15 of their 3,000ft mountains within 24 hours. It’s been on my bucket list for years and I’ll be doing it with four pals.

I’m really looking forward to it, although I know I’ll be nervous. On the day we plan to get up at 2am and head to the first peak with our head torches on. It’ll be the hardest thing I’ve ever done but I’m confident we can do it.

We’ve had brilliant support from family and friends who have all donated generously. I just hope the money can help support Alzheimer Scotland and help other families like mine who’ve been affected by dementia.

Support Luke at justgiving.com/page/kieran-connelly-welsh3000