Fight against Parkinson’s.

Hi, I am Lauren. I am completing the Carlisle half marathon on the 17th of March. I’m not much of a runner but I have never been more motivated to do something and here’s why:

This is Marie Moore, my nana. My nana was fiesty, strong, made me cry with laughter and most importantly she was my best friend.

She was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, this was before I started training to be a nurse. I had heard about it but didn’t realise it was more than just tremors. It can affect people in all kinds of different ways.

For my nana, her walking deteriorated and she had A LOT of falls. Resulting in not being able to walk, which she got very frustrated with. She was unable to lift her head and it sat at an angle, people would walk in to a room and she couldn’t look to see who it was. Her speech was massively affected, sometimes it was very difficult to understand what she was saying. Her emotions were all over the place, she would laugh at random things or at times she would break her heart crying about how she had ended up, which was awful to watch. The medication she was on could make her hallucinate, sometimes we would laugh about what she had seen but sometimes it could be scary.

As a nurse, I have seen many different diseases and illnesses, but Parkinson’s is up there in the worst group. The way my nana suffered, I would not wish it on anyone. We were just lucky to have my strong godmother/auntie Ali, who was so resilient and strong, she ensured nana was looked after. Some families aren’t lucky enough to have someone like her and hopefully one day they will find a cure/ treatment for such an awful disease!

My beautiful, best friend lost her battle to Parkinson’s on the 10th of November 2022 and I run in her memory and for everyone who has lost their battle to Parkinson’s.