India's skydive for her parents after Alzheimer's diagnosis
After both her parents were diagnosed with Alzheimer's, a woman from Malpas decided she wanted to take a leap of faith in her efforts to fundraise for future research.
India Charlton's parents have been living with the illness for the past couple of years. Her father was diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2016, her mom with Alzheimer's only 18 months ago.
The 47 year-old, originally from Aberdeenshire in Scotland, will take to the air next weekend in a charity skydive in Whitchurch to raise money for Alzheimer's Research UK.
"My mom was fine until 18 months ago, when she just nosedived into really bad memory loss," India said. "When I talk to her on the phone, every three minutes I have to repeat myself. Whereas my dad I can still have deeper conversations with.
"They still live up in Scotland and during lockdown, around May, the social worker who visits them said there may be a possibility they need to go into a care home for 24-hour care. Two weeks later she said there was some problems so they were going to move them to a care home that week.
"I had stayed with them for two weeks over Christmas and I couldn't believe they needed to go in a care home, especially my dad. Anyway it was very stressful and my dad was really unhappy for about two months. Restrictions eased after a little while and I was able to travel up to Scotland to see them. The care home manager said I could visit for half an hour everyday.
"It was great to see them but so hard that I couldn't hug them – my poor dad was reaching out. I spoke to the nurses who said they definitely needed more care, which put me at ease about it all."
Ms Charlton said it was such a stressful couple of months that she decided to do something different and raise money.
"I am kind of an all or nothing person – I have to take it to the extreme," she said. "I am doing this for my mom and dad, to say thank you for everything you have done for me in my life. They have supported me through so much. I had ME (chronic fatigue syndrome) for about 15 years and they always stood by my side. It's my way of saying 'I love you so much I will jump out of a plane for you'."
To donate to India's fundraiser, visit her JustGiving page.
