VANCOUVER — Alzheimer’s disease and dementia are grueling, uphill battles for both victims and their loved ones. Today, hikers are tackling a popular Lower Mainland climb in symbolism of this fight. They do so in conjunction with a group of climbers in Tanzania who are climbing Mount Kilimanjaro to promote awareness of Alzheimer’s and dementia. The event is called the Mount Kilimanjaro Grouse Grind for Alzheimer’s and it supports the 70,000 people in B.C. living with the disease.
“A diagnosis of dementia is very overwhelming. It can be very confusing. But the people who surround that individual – their caregivers, their family, it’s just as overwhelming for them as well,” Maria Howard, chief executive officer of Alzheimer Society of B.C. told Global News.
The event is in its third year, and the Alzheimer Society has been sending teams up Mt. Kilimanjaro for the past 16 years.
Sandy Riley, who climbed the Grind today, has scaled Mt. Kilimanjaro with the Ascent for Alzheimer’s in the past. “The mountain is so big it creates its own weather activity and so you’re in and out of the clouds. You get up into the altitude. You’re maybe not thinking quite so clearly and sometimes with dementia, that’s exactly the journey these people are on,” says Riley.
Global National anchor Dawna Friesen emceed the event today. Her parents are both in the late stages of dementia.
“A lot of people who have loved ones with this are silent,” she says. “It’s a very lonely place to be. You’re caring for someone who you love. You’re watching them sink into the unreachable place and you feel alone.”
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