Peter Ashford, a man from Cardiff, is participating in the London Marathon in memory of his mother, Sharon Ashford, who died from Early-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease in March 2020.
Peter’s mother was originally from Swansea and lived most of her life in Cardiff. She was diagnosed in 2018 at the age of 56, after making errors at work.
Peter, who works in the TV and film industry, will be running the race to raise money for Alzheimer’s Research UK. He is also starting a gruelling 48-hour running challenge of 48 miles to bump up donations and prepare for the marathon.
Sharon’s symptoms started with small things like misplacing her keys and questioning what was going on day-to-day. She kept her trips to the doctor a secret from her family until she was diagnosed.
Her health deteriorated rapidly, and she was admitted to the hospital in November 2019. Peter moved back to the capital to live with his parents and help care for his mother.
Her condition worsened, and she had to be admitted to the hospital. In February 2020, she declined further and stopped eating. This went on for several weeks before she received palliative care and passed away two weeks later.
Peter is determined to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s Research UK to find a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. Peter will be running four miles every four hours for 48 hours, starting on March 3.
He will run an additional ten miles to bring the total to 58, which is the same age his mother was when she died. Peter has not run a marathon before, and he believes the running challenge will allow him to relate to what someone with dementia or Alzheimer’s goes through, which is a lack of sleep and becoming confused.
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