Torbay dementia campaigner shares powerful message

Torbay dementia campaigner Norman McNamara has penned his own moving message in the final Torbay Weekly of 2024.

‘Norrms’ has spent the past few years of his life not only battling against the terrible illness himself but also campaigning to make the Bay and South Devon dementia aware and friendly with his Purple Angel campaign. What started as a local initiative has now gone global, with awareness and fund-raising project from the UK to Asia.

Norrms has won several awards for his pioneering work including being named the overall winner and the Community Champion award winner in the recent and first Torbay Communities/Torbay Weekly Community Champion Awards. He writes…

The truth about dementia

I have dementia. It’s a terminal disease.

I am slowly dying and disappearing right in front of my family’s eyes, bit by bit each and every day. They say a cure could be 10 to 20 years away from now, too late for me.

I have dementia but I am not daft! I lost my father and a wonderful grandmother to this awful disease so I know what my future holds. I wake each and every night, screaming and shouting, fighting enemies who are completely invisible to anybody else.

I hear my mum shout my name, I see and feel my dog slide up to me on the settee. Both have been dead for years.

Above: Norman McNamara and Torbay Weekly reporter Julian Barnes at Torbay Communities/Torbay Weekly Community Champion Awards

I’ve seen myself walk out of a lift whilst sitting in a cafe and I have felt myself dying in bed trying to call my “Angel” Elaine’s name to tell her I love her before I do. I look into my children’s eyes and wonder who they are about to become, how they will manage and who will stand guard over them all as I have done for so many years.

Even after all these years I still come across so-called “friends” who cross the road from me now rather than say hello because they think it might be contagious! I have to be held by the hand at all times as I have lost all my road sense and would walk straight in front of a car in an instant.

Most days I disappear into a world of my own. I used to say nothing bad ever happened in my world. Now sometimes it seems totally the opposite. I want to scream and shout sometimes but I know if I do, people will look at me and think ah, must be his dementia. The slightest thing that goes wrong and it’s the end of the world as far as I am concerned. Things I used to take in my stride are now totally devastating, and yet…

I smile, we smile, we all smile; through thick and thin we smile. We go out into the big bad world every day and try to make people understand why I, and others feel like this and why this disease makes you feel as if you are the loneliest person in the world, even though you are surrounded by love.

Why do we smile and go out there every day? Because we are born to fight! We are genetically made up to fend off all that is thrown at us and make the best of what we have. Where do we get the strength from? Nobody knows but somehow, we get up in the mornings day after day and face head-on whatever is thrown at us.

Why do we do this every day?

Because we have hope! Because we hope one day all will be well or at least be a little better tomorrow than today and that is enough for us to hold onto.

That little bit of hope is enough to feed our soul, help us breathe, speak our words and have our voices heard. Just that little bit of hope can do so much.

So please, my friends, whatever situation you are in, whatever your health may be like, please hold on tight to that little bit of hope because even something so small, that can’t be seen, touched, tasted, heard or smelt, can bring a little happiness to each and every heart in the world.

Norrms McNamara

Founder of Purple Angel dementia campaign

https://purpleangel-global.com/

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Image Credits and Reference: https://www.torbayweekly.co.uk/news/home/1695487/torbay-dementia-campaigner-shares-powerful-message.html