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Seven marathons in seven days for dementia awareness

Will Dean Will Dean and his motherWill Dean
Will Dean said his mother, Ronnie, was diagnosed with early dementia aged 49

A man running seven marathons in seven days to raise money for dementia research, hopes to inspire open conversations about the condition.

Will Dean, from Shrewsbury, Shropshire, said his mother, a former senior police officer in North Wales, was diagnosed with early-onset dementia aged 49.

He said she had put off telling people about her condition as she did not want people to treat her like a child.

The 23-year-old said he wanted to change perceptions of dementia.

He also said he wanted to get more people tested early.

Mr Dean said his mother, Ronnie Dean, had first realised something was wrong when she started feeling uncomfortable at work, forgetting details like names.

She put off telling her family. When she eventually did tell them she said the delay had been because she had seen others "treated like a child the moment they were introduced as having dementia."

Will Dean Will DeanWill Dean
Will Dean's marathons will include a run through Shrewsbury's Quarry park on Saturday

He said he knows he might carry the gene which would see him develop early dementia too.

In 2019 he started taking on fundraising challenges, including climbing the height of Everest on his staircase at home during lockdown and running the Jurassic Coast 100km ultramarathon.

Until three months ago, he told people he was doing it for a "close loved one".

But he decided to become more open about his mother's condition after attending a gathering of other young people who had parents with early-onset dementia.

He said it was "the first time I could speak openly" and he left "feeling empowered" to speak out.

Will Dean Will Dean's mother with a medalWill Dean
Will Dean presents every distance-running medal he receives to his mother

Mr Dean said he had been in touch with others in a similar situation, through his charity fundraising and hoped to talk to many of them during the course of his marathon-running.

Some have signed up to run part of the challenge alongside him, raising money for Alzheimers Research UK.

His seven runs started on Monday, with six of them taking place in Shrewsbury on consecutive days and the seventh in North Wales on Sunday.

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