Post by Mind

I'm 29 and running the London Marathon with a fridge on my back. Because we are all carrying something. And we don’t have to carry it alone. I was 15 when my mum was diagnosed with Frontotemporal Dementia. No understanding. No roadmap. Just watching the person I loved slowly disappear. For 6 years, my world became caring, grieving, and trying to make sense of something that never made sense. Losing her piece by piece… and then losing her completely at 52. In that same room where we were first told she had FTD, my life changed again. I learned I had a 50% chance of inheriting it too. That fear stayed with me. It broke me at times. But on the 12th September 2018, it became real. I tested positive for the MAPT gene. I will develop the same dementia in my 40s. How do you process that? Honestly… I didn’t, not at first. I spiralled. Depression. Intrusive thoughts. Feeling like my future had already been written. But what saved me was people. Friends. Family. Support. People who helped me carry the weight when it felt unbearable. And that’s what this is about. This marathon with a fridge on my back isn’t just a challenge. It’s a symbol. Because that’s what it feels like sometimes - like you’re carrying something heavy that no one else can see. I’m doing this to make dementia visible. But more than that… to show you that whatever you’re carrying, you don’t have to carry it alone.