THE 2020 edition of Kyabram resident Mick Simpson’s five-day Memory Walk is in full swing.
And as of Wednesday, November 11, Mick’s 90km journey to raise awareness for dementia has hit the halfway mark.
Set to cross the finish line in Kyabram on Friday, November 13, the walking troupe will then head to the Remembrance Garden for a lunch and a talk prepared by the Kyabram Lions Club.
Diagnosed with Lewy body dementia in November 2018 at just 62, Mick has been staring down a disease that has no cure and no treatment.
Lewy body dementia, also known as dementia with Lewy bodies, is the second most common type of progressive dementia after Alzheimer’s.
Protein deposits, called Lewy bodies, develop in nerve cells in the brain regions involved in thinking, memory and movement (motor control).
Mick raised $5000 through the first instalment of the Memory Walk in 2019 and said he expects to top that effort this year.
Over five days, participants have planned a route from Cobram to Strathmerton to Nathalia then to Wyuna, before finishing in Kyabram on Friday.
State Member for Murray Plains Peter Walsh and a Dementia Australia spokesperson will also be in attendance for the final leg.
“Come along and join us. I don’t care if people only want to walk a simple kilometer ... just help us get the word out there,” Mick said.
“It’s not a race, it’s a walk. Plus, I might need someone to hold me up once I finish the 90km.”
Mick’s Memory Walk began on November 9 and concludes on November 13.
For information or to donate, visit personalchallenge.gofundraise.com.au/page/Michael-66776454 or contact Mick on 0473 470 616.
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