{"id":303,"date":"2021-03-25T13:28:15","date_gmt":"2021-03-25T13:28:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kentdalevets.co.uk\/news\/?p=303"},"modified":"2021-03-25T13:29:23","modified_gmt":"2021-03-25T13:29:23","slug":"gemmas-poignant-trek-in-aid-of-alzheimers-society","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kentdalevets.co.uk\/news\/gemmas-poignant-trek-in-aid-of-alzheimers-society\/","title":{"rendered":"Gemma’s poignant trek in aid of Alzheimer\u2019s Society"},"content":{"rendered":"

The tragic loss of two grandparents to dementia has inspired\u00a0<\/span>one of our vets<\/span>\u00a0to take on a\u00a0<\/span>grueling<\/span>\u00a026<\/span>–<\/span>mile trek to raise\u00a0<\/span>money<\/span>\u00a0for the\u00a0<\/span>Alzheimer\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>Society<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"GEMMA\u2019S<\/p>\n

Dr Gemma Holloway,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>A<\/span>dvanced\u00a0<\/span>P<\/span>ractitioner in\u00a0<\/span>S<\/span>mall\u00a0<\/span>A<\/span>nimal\u00a0<\/span>S<\/span>urgery<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0is taking part in Trek 26<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0a challenging cross<\/span>–<\/span>country hike around the lake and fells at Ullswater in the Lake Distric<\/span>t on August 7<\/span>th<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gemma sa<\/span>id\u00a0<\/span>the pain and anguish of watching her grandparents Barbara and Alan Pool succumb to dementia\u00a0<\/span>would<\/span>\u00a0be her motivation as she aims to raise as much money as possible for the fight against the UK\u2019s biggest killer.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cMy grandma was diagnosed with vascular dementia seven years ago after suffering two strokes.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>My\u00a0<\/span>g<\/span>randpa did his best to care for her at home<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>but was later diagnosed with Alzheimer<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s himself.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>My\u00a0<\/span>g<\/span>randma was then taken into care<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0which my\u00a0<\/span>g<\/span>randpa found very difficult to deal with and he was also taken into care for the last few months of his life. Grandpa Alan passed away in the\u00a0<\/span>s<\/span>pring of 2019 and we lost\u00a0<\/span>g<\/span>randma<\/span>\u00a0Barbara in December 2020.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"GEMMA\u2019SGemma\u2019s double loss was compounded by the awful toll the illness took on her grandparents and the wider family as a whole \u201cDementia is a terrible condition. It took away their quality of life, their\u00a0<\/span>independence<\/span>\u00a0and their identity.\u00a0 As time went on, they both lost precious memories and became confused and nervous of their surroundings, sometimes not recognising loved ones or being able to communicate at all. It\u2019s a tragic condition that steals so much both from its sufferers and those who know and love them. Since signing up for this Trek 26 challenge many people have told me of similar stories within their own\u00a0<\/span>family<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>.I<\/span>\u00a0know that doing this trek is a small step, but I hope by doing it, I\u2019ll play a part in helping research that may one day allow us to treat or even prevent dementia.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If you\u2019d like to support Gemma\u2019s marathon hike you can donate by visiting:\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Gemma Holloway is fundraising for Alzheimer’s Society (justgiving.com)<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The tragic loss of two grandparents to dementia has inspired\u00a0one of our vets\u00a0to take on a\u00a0grueling\u00a026–mile trek to raise\u00a0money\u00a0for the\u00a0Alzheimer\u2019s\u00a0Society.\u00a0\u00a0 Dr Gemma Holloway,\u00a0Advanced\u00a0Practitioner in\u00a0Small\u00a0Animal\u00a0Surgery,\u00a0is taking part in Trek 26,\u00a0a challenging cross–country hike around the lake and fells at Ullswater in the Lake District on August 7th.\u00a0\u00a0 Gemma said\u00a0the pain and anguish of watching her grandparents… <\/p>\n

Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":306,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentdalevets.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentdalevets.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentdalevets.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentdalevets.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentdalevets.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentdalevets.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentdalevets.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentdalevets.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentdalevets.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentdalevets.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}