When one of the great brains of the country starts to get foggy, forgetful and frustrated it’s very difficult for the family and friends to witness. It’s heart-breaking for everyone of
course, when a diminution of mental faculties manifests itself, but most particularly if the person in question had been a former Master of the Rolls and a brilliant Supreme Court judge.
Anthony (Tony) Clarke, friend and occasional tennis and bridge partner of mine, did just
that and slowly went down that route. I think it was bridge that first signalled the decline. Taking an age to choose a card to play, and getting cross with himself when it was perceived to be the wrong one.
After years of this gradual decline, his wife Rosy and their children, very reluctantly
relinquished Tony into the arms of a wonderful care home in Hastings, Hastings Court.
So it was “in memory” of the man he once was, that Rosy and her children and
grandchildren participated in the Alzheimer’s Trek, which started in Larkhall Park near
Nine Elms on May 17. They headed through Battersea, Belgravia, Westminster to
Lincoln’s Inn, where they all had a welcome pit stop. But no hanging about, so off to the
City, over Tower Bridge and along the South Bank, back to Larkhall Park, completing 13.5 miles and complete with sore feet and aching muscles! There were 1,590 folk trekking, and between them they raised nearly £6,000 and counting.
The wonderful Hastings Court raised £183 on top of their £100 donation, and the
walkers all wore brightly coloured hats donated from the home, so that they couldn’t lose one another in the melee.
The main photograph is of Tony Clarke now at 82, (who has advanced Alzheimer’s but seems to be a happy man), and his family Rosy, Ben, Tom, Sally and Romilly would just like to thank all the very generous friends and family who spurred them on their way and for their kind thoughts and donations.
If you feel affected by this in any way and would like to donate, the Alzheimer’s Society Trek26 is the name to look up. The money all goes into vital research. Research probably vital in one way or another for us all.
Image Credits: Clarke family .