Sisters to walk the Great Wall of China for charity

8:12pm Friday 8th February 2008

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TWO sisters whose mother suffers from Alzheimer's disease are set to trek the Great Wall of China in her honour.

Betty Ratcliffe's illness is so far advanced that the 76-year-old no longer recognises her own children.

But her devastated daughters are determined that something positive will come out of their mother's suffering, and the four women have pledged to raise £7,500 for the Alzheimer's Society.

The two eldest, Anne Walker, of Newton-Upon-Derwent, near York, and Lynn Cunningham, of Halifax, will undertake a gruelling five-day trek in China this August.

Anne, 56, said: "My mum was in her 50s when she started suffering from Alzheimer's.

"Initially, we didn't realise. We just thought she was going a bit dizzy and we made fun of it.

"But it's a dreadful disease and eventually, when my dad could no longer look after her, we had to put her in a nursing home.

"Usually, she recognises me, but she doesn't know who my younger sister is anymore and that's really upsetting for her.

"It's so cruel. You go to visit someone you love and they are not there. Their shell is there, but they are not."

The challenging Chinese trek includes an ascent of 1,200 stone steps on one of the days.

Anne, who runs an accountancy business with her husband, Graham, said: "I've been trying to decide whether to do it or not for the last two years.

"What made my mind up was when I turned the radio on and heard that Jane Tomlinson had died. I thought about everything she did in her life time despite suffering from cancer and I thought if she can do all that then I can definitely do a bit of walking. It's going to be the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, but it will be worth it."

Anne and Lynn, together with their two youngest sisters, Judith Wright and Kathryn Spendilow, have organised a string of fundraising events to reach their £7,500 target.

In the months before the trek, they will be holding pub quizzes, ballroom dances, cheese and wine evenings, murder mystery evenings and fishing matches.

To support Anne and her sisters by making a donation to the Alzheimer's Society, log on to www.justgiving.com/awalker2.