Karen and Rob updated their wills to fight dementia for future generations

My husband Rob was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2017. It’s a cruel disease, especially as he understands what’s happening. He was diagnosed at 62, relatively young, and gets very frustrated and very down.

He goes off and doesn’t take his phone – I’ve had to phone the police and they bring him back.

We came home to Wales from Ireland after Rob had to give up work. I also gave up work to be his full-time carer. 

Since lockdown, he’s deteriorated a lot. He’s disorientated around the house and forgets his words, he gets muddled up. But then some days he’s spot on and you honestly wouldn’t believe there was anything wrong with him.

Everything we can

We’re Dementia Friends Champions and, before the pandemic, would go round schools and colleges talking about dementia.

Rob was in the RAF for 25 years and can speak better when he’s in his uniform. Hopefully things will change and we can start doing it again, as dementia awareness is so important. 

We’ve done media work, fundraising like Cupcake Day and dementia-friendly audits at Bangor University. We do everything we can to make a difference or raise awareness.

Find a cure

After Rob’s diagnosis, we decided the first thing to do were lasting powers of attorney (LPAs) and then wills. We were going through them with a solicitor and Rob said yes straight away to leaving something to Alzheimer’s Society. You can’t take it with you!

The process was easy through our solicitor, but there are ways that Alzheimer’s Society can help people to get an up-to-date will.

We’ve pledged half of our house to the Society, to fund research into a cure – we need a cure. We know it’s too late for us, but anything we can do to stop others going through this would be great. 

I would encourage others to think about leaving a gift in their will. Even if it’s a small amount, it will still make a difference.