By Jenny Lingham-Doe
Twelve years ago Lorna Richards’ father was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. To help raise awareness and money for research Lorna is running the London Marathon this year in aid of Parkinson’s UK.
Lorna Richard and dad
Lorna a catering teacher at Brookfield Community School and Language College in Sarisbury Green aims to raise £2,000 for the charity whcih has helped support her father Andrew Wium.
“Lately my father’s condition has progressed – we now take him out in a wheelchair. He can’t go for walks on his own as he forgets things and hallucinates a lot, this is quite difficult as he’s always been an active person.
“When I get home from work I go round to visit him. We have a carer for him as me and my mum both work full time. But recently he’s been in and out of hospital so we are looking into long term care.”
Lorna has created a weekly training routine for her marathon preparation, by doing an intense work out daily with only Saturdays off each week.
“It’s really going to help with in-depth research for Parkinson’s UK for their drug research. It’s also important for my children, for them to get a better understanding so that they can educate the younger generation.
“This marathon is quite a huge thing for me, I was 5 stone heavier so I changed my life positively for someone close to me. For him to suffer every day, one day of hard work for me is small in comparison.”
One person in every 500 has Parkinson’s. That’s about 127,000 people in the UK.
So far Lorna has been donated £1,200 and is on her way to reaching her target. With Lorna’s donations going towards research, Parkinson’s UK may be one step closer to finding a cure.
For more information about sponsoring Lorna contact 07954691860. For more information on Parkinson’s visit www.parkinsons.org.uk.