1000’s more know now!!

My primary goal for completing the Camino Frances from St. Jean Pied de Port (SJPdP, France) to Santiago de Compostella (Spain) was to raise awareness about Younger Onset Dementia (YOD) and as a secondary, but equally important goal, to raise funds for projects to assist people diagnosed with YOD, and their families who live daily with this chronic, terminal, degenerative condition.

Glenys and I wore our T-shirts everyday, including our flights from Brisbane, all 4 days in Paris, travelling by train to SJPdP, 825 kms along the Camino, the train to Madrid, all 4 days in Madrid, and 3 connecting flights through Frankfurt, and Bangkok to Brisbane. This was to attract attention to the reason for our walking the Camino. And it worked!

There was not a day that passed that Glenys and I weren’t speaking to complete strangers about YOD. We spoke to countless people from numerous countries. I’m talking 100’s and 100’s!!!, and SO many have shared to ALL of their contacts via social media and email. So that has to be 1000’s more people now know!

At all times we had an interested and captive audience, because Dementia is well known. Many knew of someone who had been diagnosed with the disease. Few knew that younger people can also be diagnosed with it, although some had direct contact with YOD, too. But most were unaware that people under the age of 65 years of age can have this terrible condition.

They were very interested in the story we had to tell and provided enormous encouragement to us to continue our crusade to spread the word; to reduce the stigma associated with dementia; and wished the very best wishes for me to live well with the condition, and to continue to perservere with what I’m doing to try to slow the progression. Some showed a keen interest in my ‘NAMES’.

Our fundraising efforts were modest, and  as well as including the:

bit.ly/johnquinncamino

everydayhero fundraising page, we received donations from a cross section of people, in some unusual locations including large albergues and obscure coffee shops kilometres from nowhere. Glenys and I were heartened by people’s generosity (and I’d like to add thanks to Kathy and David and their group right in front of the Cathedral de Santiago as we arrived).

Although this Charity Challenge was a challenge in more ways than I can explain here, we arrived home with a deep sense of satisfaction of our efforts to spread the word about YOD. We sincerely hope that our visit to Spain will stimulate further conversations around the implications of a diagnosis of YOD. We hope that we have made an impact.