Elaine Wright's journey to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro
Elaine Wright and her son Cam did it! They climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro to raise money and awareness for Alzheimer Disease and Related Dementia. Dementia Advocacy and Support Network (DASN) International went with them! Elaine carried a DASNI decal embroidered by Mary Lockhart's daughter-in-law to the top of the mountain. This signified all of us at the top with Elaine. She carried our hopes and our goals with her. Thank you so much Elaine and Cameron. You truly signify how our DASNI team will go to no limits to get our message out to the world.
www.alzheimerbc.org/ascent_bios03.php
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"I want to show people who feel they have limitations that doors aren't closed - that there are support networks and people who can help," says Elaine Wright of Vancouver.
Elaine was diagnosed several years ago with Alzheimer's disease at the age of 49. Now she's on the Alzheimer Society of B.C.'s Board of Directors and, as half of a mother-son team, she's in training to be the first known person with Alzheimer's disease to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.
Elaine's mother also has Alzheimer's disease, so her 16-year-old son Cameron - who is also participating in this year's Ascent - is climbing for two women in his life.
"I want to support people with the disease, like my mom and grandma," he says. "But it's also important to me to raise the funds to search for a cure…to further the dream that one day there will be a cure."
"There's a stigma surrounding dementia that makes some people think that climbing a mountain is literally beyond reach," says Elaine. "I want to challenge and reverse that belief, to prove that a person with dementia can do it."
