Value Added Veteran

Hi I'm Nikki. I'm Jack, the Value Added Veteran's daughter.

Dad didn't have the best start in life. He lost his Mum when he was 9 and she was only 35.

Then he lost the other love of his life, my Mum, to pneumonia which was due to Mixed Dementia. This happened 2 months short of their 63rd wedding anniversary..

In between these two devastating losses he had 2 passions, art and the Royal Navy.

Dad joined the Navy age 15 as an Apprentice Artificer and worked his way up through the ranks. He was in charge of the steam catapult of an aircraft carrier, think Top Gun. His ship escorted Prince Philip at the 1956 summer Olympics. From there he went on to be part of the 8th destroyer squadron during the Malay Emergency.

Talking of Top Gun, his next move was to become a Pilot Cadet at Britannia Royal Naval College. Through the Royal Navy he learned how to pilot helicopters and ,with a little help from the RAF, learned how to fly fixed wing aircraft. Although his unconventional way of navigating, used the pub names painted on their roofs, was somewhat frowned upon by his trainer.

Back in civvie street he pursued his other passion, art. Dad's worked in all sorts of media but his study in pen and ink is my favourite.

Sadly he started losing fine motor skills meaning he no longer could produce the beautiful artwork thst he had previously done.

He started to get unstable on his feet. A sharp mind that used to complete word puzzles daily could no longer find the words.

In March of 2022 he was diagnosed with Alzheimers which was devastating. Dad became the 5th member of our family to be diagnosed with one form of dementia or another.

As things progressed the hallucinations appeared. And I almost lost him when he, as the hospital put it, "tried to leave the house by a first floor window".

The worst had happened. You see I always promised my parents that they'd never go into a care home. I managed it with Mum until her last few days with pneumonia.

Dad has now been living in a care home for just over 2 years. Breaking my promise to him cut me to the core. I tried to make up for it and failed .

That's why I'm fundraising for Dad. He always bailed me out when I couldn’t afford to have repairs done. So now it's my turn to bail him out and raise funds for Dad's care home fees.

Dad is my Gentleman and an officer. Sub Lieutenant Jack Denny truly is a Value Added Veteran.

I know times are tough, I know money is tight. But this man gave 12 years to serve his country. Please consider adding value to what remains of his life