Neville is on the run for his mum

A son who lost his beloved mum to Alzheimer’s disease is helping to fund research into the devastating disease.

Neville Ramsay says he only realised just how debilitating Alzheimer’s can be after mum Edith was diagnosed when she was 85.

The mum-of-14, who lived in Carley Hill, spent the next eight years battling the progressive form of dementia until her death last November, aged 93.

Now Neville, 52, has thrown himself into taking on sponsored runs to raise funds for the Alzheimer’s Society.

So far he’s competed in this year’s Sunderland City 10k and is in training for the Great North Run in September, along with nephew Aaron Sproat, 30. He’s also awaiting a place in the next London Marathon.

Neville, who lives in the city centre, said: “In January I couldn’t run ten yards and now I do 12-mile runs twice a week with short runs in between.”

The successful hairdresser said exercise has helped him to cope with the grief of losing his mother, who he helped nurse in her final years.

Speaking about the onset of symptoms, he said: “At first it was just little things she’d forget like where she’d put her keys, but we all forget things like that.

“But then things started happening, like she’d have a bruise on her face and she wouldn’t remember how she’d got it. The Alzheimer’s was making her wobbly on her feet and she was falling but not remembering that she had.”

Edith was soon diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, which came as a shock to her family.

“I’d heard of Alzheimer’s but didn’t really know what it was,” said Neville, “I think it was the way it affected her physically that was the worst thing to deal with. Some days she was really sharp, and she knew what was going on and other days she wasn’t. But the physical side affected her every day. She had always been such a glamorous lady: she loved to bleach her hair and wear a fur coat.

“She was like Marilyn Monroe when I was growing up, but to go from that to the way she was was hard to see. But she always had a smile on her face until the end.”

He added: “I also never realised how many young people it affected. My mam was looked after by two great carers, as well as her family, at her home. But she would also visit Glenholme Care Home, inRoker,foradaywherethere were people a lot younger than my mam who were suffering. It’s a disease which is affecting more and more people every year and more research needs to be done.”

To sponsor Neville visit https://www.justgiving.com/ fundraising/neville-ramsay2.