Walk benefits Alzheimer’s research

By Christian Colón, Andrew Masse

Click here for updates on this story

    EAST HARTFORD, Connecticut (WFSB) — Dozens of flowers were raised up in the air Sunday, each one representing someone who has been impacted by Alzheimer’s Disease or was supporting the cause.

Yellow for support, purple if you lost someone, or blue if you have the disease.

About a thousand people signed up for the annual Greater Hartford Walk to end Alzheimer’s with the hope of being part of the solution.

“People need to feel supported. Unfortunately, my father is not at a point that I think he would be aware, at this point, of what we are doing for him, but my mother certainly is. Being together on this is so important for our own heath, to strengthen one another,” Joan Gordon of East Hartford tells us.

Joan’s father was diagnosed and hold a story too common, change in their loved one’s behavior that hasn’t gotten any better.

“It all started off with memory impairment, getting in her car and not remembering how to get back home, to writing the wrong checks in the checkbook. My dad is living and he noticed it first so we got her diagnosed pretty early on,” Donna Kirkbi of Higganum says.

A diagnosis that comes with a heavy price, which is why this walk is hoping to raise thousands for research purposes.

For Maicie Russel, who lost her mom to the disease, it’s still not the end.

Now, she works to get other people the help.

“It is one of the most expensive diseases, basically, for all those years I worked, so working with the association and getting advice and care from them was pivotal, because I had her in my home for all those years,” Russel said.

So far, more than $240,000 has been raised, a strong comeback after the event didn’t happen last year due to COVID.

“It’s just an amazing number of people that come together for whatever reason to support one person that goes through it, to support the care givers that devote so much time and energy, and, obviously, to support research, and, eventually, we will find a cure, treatments that will help slow profession of this disease,” Ginny Hanbridge, executive director for the Connecticut chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, added.

If you would also like to help out, you can head here to learn more.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.