About a dozen people from the Perry community met Saturday morning for the Perry Lutheran Home’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s. The fundraising walk was held on the exercise trail of the Dallas County Hospital in Perry.
Maureen Haglund, marketing coordinator for the Perry Luther Home’s Main and Spring Valley campuses, welcomed the walkers, and Heather Nevitt Van Lin of Perry made testimonial remarks about her experience of losing her mother, Barbara Nevitt, to Alzheimer’s in 2013.
“My mother was very young when she was diagnosed,” Van Lin said, “and this surprised a lot of people who associate Alzheimer’s with old age.” Van Lin also discussed current trends in Alzheimer’s research.
“All the morbidity rates of the other major illnesses are decreasing, but Alzheimer’s keeps increasing,” she said, holding her 4-year-old daughter Irish in her arms. Van Lin said a recent increase of more than $300 million in research funds are a cause for hope.
The walk continues until 10 a.m this morning, starting at the DCH gazebo in the north parking lot. Readers can join the walk via Twitter by using the hashtag #endalz.
