Although their loved ones may no longer remember the special times, residents of Prince George were determined to carry the memories for them as they participated in the sixth annual Investors Group Walk for Memories Sunday afternoon.
It was an emotional afternoon as walkers took laps around the track at the Northern Sport Centre in support of the Alzheimer Society of British Columbia.
This year's walk was dedicated to honoree's Jim and Bev Buckman, who moved to Prince George in 1955 and were both diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
The Buckman's daughter, Sandra O'Neil, spoke about her parents at the event, describing her late father's journey as quick (he passed away in August, 2009) and the ongoing support she has received from the society while walking the path with her mother.
"[The Buckman's] have certainly gone through a lot," said Prince George-Valemount MLA Shirley Bond, whose own father had dementia. "I know it's a really challenging emotional and physical experience, so to the Buckman family, we're hear to honour you today and to hold you up and let you know as a community we care and thank you for the commitments you've made."
Having people willing to share their stories about their experiences with Alzheimer's is crucial to raising awareness about the disease.
"People are afraid. There's a lot of stigma attached to living with dementia and Alzheimer's disease. It's difficult to get people talking about it, because they're afraid,but we know there's one in three people in Canada that know someone with Alzheimer's so it's not like it's not happening," said Leanne Jones, the society's support and education co-ordinator for the region.
"By having people like our honouree families stand up and share their stories. With the courage that takes and has a ripple effect to other families once they see that, that people are able to talk about what their experience is, makes it easier for the next person to do the same thing."
As the society's biggest fundraiser, more than $650,000 was raised through the Walk for Memories across the province last year and supporters are on track to meet or exceed that amount this year, said Jones. Eighty-five cents from every dollar raised goes into programs and services offered across the province.
"It gets bigger every year because the more awareness we raise, the more people that come and we have a really excellent group of volunteers that actually coordinate the entire event. It's because of their hard work that this event happens at all."
Raising awareness about Alzheimer's disease is especially important as it is the most common form of dementia. More than 70,000 British Columbians are currently living with the disease or a related dementia and nearly 10,000 of those are under the age of 65.
Sarah Vogt and her teammates had raised more than $2,600 for this year's walk. Vogt was walking in honour of her grandfather.
"As he lives everyday with Alzheimer's, I watch more and more of his memories disappear," she said. "These stories of his life are what I'll remember for him, as he cannot."
