Ilkay Ashton

For Those Slowly Losing Someone They Love

I’m taking on the Crunches Challenge this June with my husband and our two children, aged 5 and 6, in memory of my beautiful mum.

She raised me on her own and was one of the strongest women I’ve ever known. She was fit, healthy, independent, strong-minded, and full of life. We always thought she would live a very long life, but dementia took her from us far too soon.

This challenge is our little family’s way of honouring her strength, her love, and everything she carried for us. My husband also loved his Anne, which means mum in Turkish, and this is something we are doing together for her.

Dementia is so much more than forgetting names. It is slowly losing someone you love while they are still right in front of you. It is grieving them while they are still here, and unless you have lived through it, it is hard to truly understand. I hope no family ever has to experience that heartbreak.

Every crunch is for her, and for the many families who know how devastating dementia can be.

I’d be so grateful for any donation, big or small, to support Dementia Australia and help create a future with more awareness, more research, more support, and more hope. ❤️