Harvey Dunstan "I want to raise £26,000 for Parkinson's by 2021"

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My Story..

My Dad, “Stephen” (or Harold as he’s more commonly known), was diagnosed with Idiopathic Parkinson’s almost 6 years ago, and Prostate Cancer many years before that. Since this time, his health and general wellbeing has declined dramatically as is the case with all Parkinson’s sufferers, and is now a fulltime resident at Old Roselyon Nursing Home in Par.

In early 2016 my Dad began showing the typical signs of Parkinsons, with trembling and problems with balance. The knock-on effect of which was decreased mobility, and an increasingly low level of self-esteem. Living on his own my Dad became increasingly reliant on family. Myself and my 2 brothers (Shaun and Jamie), found ourselves being called on a daily basis, as Dad had either fallen or needed help cooking or even turning on the TV. It wasn’t until later in 2016 that Dad’s speech began getting worse, which only added to the frustration of not being able to do things for himself. In early 2017, Dad had a turn in the night which was thought to be a small stroke, as a precaution he was admitted to Hospital, where he stayed for around 2 months, unable to return home. Whilst in Hospital various tests were carried out, and he was further diagnosed with Dementia. He was then admitted to Old Roselyon Nursing Home, where he now required full-time nursing care. The frustrations with Dad are ongoing, as he now finds swallowing difficult and for a short period was not able to eat hard food.

Seeing the slow decline of Dad since his first diagnosis has been hard, but by far the worst part for me was at Christmas of 2018 when giving Dad his Christmas present. It was only by looking at the tag, that Dad knew who I was.

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