Two teens walk 80 miles for dementia charity

A teenager who is walking 80 miles (128km) with his school friend for a dementia charity said when his grandmother did not recognise him anymore it "hit him like a train".

Charlie Wilson, 18, had three grandparents die after being diagnosed with dementia and hopes for more support for families who have been affected by it.

The friends, from Ilkley in West Yorkshire, set off from the Humber Bridge in Hessle at 06:00 GMT and plan on completing the journey to Haworth over four days.

Charlie said: "I want to raise awareness for more education about dementia too - because it's so much more than just being a bit forgetful."

Charlie's maternal grandmother was diagnosed with the condition when she was 83 and one of the side affects was her injuring her husband, Charlie's grandfather.

"They had been married for 50 years and it just completely ended the marriage.

"My grandma had to be put in a home and she didn't know why", he said.

Charlie added: "That probably the thing which has impacted me the most."

His grandfather was also diagnosed with dementia aged 83 and died two years later in a care home.

"And it was due to my grandma injuring him that he ended up living there", Charlie said.

"The pain of losing a grandparent because of another is unimaginable."

On top of that, his paternal grandfather died when Charlie was four after being diagnosed with dementia and contracting pneumonia.

"I've always been surrounded with dementia and it has affected both sides of my family significantly.

"It was a 10-year process with my nana so I've always been around it and I've seen what impact it has on a family and their mental well-being", Charlie said.

"I think in 2023 dementia was the biggest killer of people in England so clearly there needs to be some sort of education on it or counselling to help people understand what is actually going on", he added.

Charlie and his friend Oli Cliffe, who also lost his grandfather to dementia, plan on walking 20 miles on the first day, 30 on the second, 20 the day after then inviting schoolmates from Ilkley Grammar School and the local community to do the final 10 with them to Haworth.

Oli said: "I wanted to support Charlie on his journey as I feel that people with dementia need more support than they can always get."

The pair have raised more than £2,000 so far and all the money is going to Dementia UK.

During the walk Charlie and Oli even plan on doing some A-level revision.

Charlie is studying politics and Oli is studying philosophy so they will have some "good chats", he said.

Even though his grandmother's personality "shifted" when she had dementia, she went back to being "brilliant" in the last six months of her life, Charlie said.

He wants to remember his grandparents as they were - drinking tea, giving him and his sister a pound for sweets and running around the park.

Charlie added: "No one should have to endure the loss of loved ones more than once."

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