From Banbridge to Dublin by foot: A County Down woman is taking on the challenge
Caroline De Lacy and her family hope to complete the journey in eight days.
A County Down woman is taking on the challenge of walking from Banbridge to Dublin in memory of her father for the Alzheimer’s Society.
Caroline De Lacy is setting off from Church Square in Banbridge on Saturday the 4th of August with the destination being Rathfarnham Parish Church of Ireland in Dublin which is her father’s homeplace.
Caroline’s father, Hugh John De Lacy passed away from Alzheimer’s in January this year.
She expresses that her dad was an avid sport fan, “He loved sports, loved to be able to watch sports... the disease took that away from him, it took so much away from him”.
After John was rendered unable to walk due to the illness, Caroline states “Amidst the grief I thought right, well he was rendered so helpless himself, but the things I can do, and I got a pair of legs here and maybe I can use them and walk back to Dublin where he came from”.
Speaking of the journey, which is 91 miles long, Caroline says, “my awareness that dad will be with us, not obviously in person but he will be walking with us, he will be doing the journey. That will hopefully motivate us to do this successfully”.
Caroline hopes to tackle this disease head on by aiming to raise £10,000.
She states, “Hopefully with raising awareness and raising some money for research. We can make a difference, we can do something here about this awful disease that not just affects the people, the person who is suffering but the family, the loved ones, the friends and the community is going through this together”.
Support can be provided to Caroline as she takes on John’s journey through her JustGiving page https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/caroline-de-lacy