Marissa Low, Caregiver, Advocate, Volunteer for the Alzheimer’s Association
During National Volunteer Week and all year long, we wish to celebrate the stories of our dedicated and hard-working volunteers. This is the story of Marissa Low, caregiver, advocate, volunteer for the Alzheimer’s Association:
After I awoke from my 14 long years of what I call being in a “˜care partner coma’ from caring, along with my mother, for my father who battled Parkinson’s disease until his final passing, then I clearly saw the reflection of hopeless despair in the eyes of nieces who saw their grandmother’s steady decline into Alzheimer’s. I do not want the next generations in my family or any other family, to go through the cruel diseases of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
I began looking for cutting edge answers to find solutions to make a difference globally and locally. I found the all in one answer at the Alzheimer’s Association’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s in my community.I began volunteering and advocating for the Alzheimer’s Association to advance global Alzheimer’s research. Last year, my uncle died from complications due to dementia. I know in my heart that Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s has a DNA link, just as my father and his brother shared the same DNA. A cure for Alzheimer’s must be found to unlock the key to other neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, ALS and Down syndrome.
How many more people will die before cures are found? We must each take the first step towards action and keep the hope to change tomorrow for future generations. Today, I know that if people have access to the Alzheimer’s Association’s tremendous resources of care, support, and education programs that they would not find themselves in a “˜care partner coma’ state as I was without support, so long ago.
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