Hundreds, including Global Okanagan’s Rick Webber, Walk for Alzheimer’s in Kelowna

Hundreds of people gathered in Kelowna’s City Park on Sunday for the annual Walk for Alzheimer’s.

The two- or three-kilometre walk helps raise money for dementia patients and research into the condition.

Watch: Penticton couple shares the story of their dementia journey (Jan. 2019)

2:09 Penticton couple shares story of their dementia journey to raise awareness

Many in the crowd had a personal connection to dementia that motivated them to join the walk, including Global Okanagan anchor Rick Webber who served as the event’s master of ceremonies.

Webber said he was walking for a friend’s mother who was a big help to him at the start of his broadcasting career, and who died of Alzheimer’s 10 years ago.

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“Her name was Mrs. Eileen Southcott,” Webber said. “She really helped me out. She provided me with a place to live and she cooked for me. She was just so sweet.

“Then over the course of time she forgot who I was. She thought at first that I was one of her sons and more and more she forgot who I was. That was just the beginning and eventually she passed away of Alzheimer’s.”

Kelowna’s walk is just one of hundreds of similar Walk For Alzheimer’s events taking place across Canada.

The local walk’s website shows that it has raised more than $29,000.

The Alzheimer Society of B.C. said the money raised goes to “ensure that people living with dementia and their families have access to support, education and information. Funds raised will also enable research into the causes and cures of dementia.”

— With files from Travis Lowe