Warm welcome for FTD brothers in Tipperary Town

On Tuesday in Tipperary town, the FTD brothers Jordan and Cian Adams, were on day 24 of their 32-county marathon. Before they left on their run, I caught up with the two boys and I began by asking Jordan how he felt about the reception in Tipperary.

“Incredible; you know each day I have to peel myself out of bed, it’s getting more and more difficult, a lot of tiredness, a lot of fatigue, a lot of pain too from injuries that I have.

“What gets you through is seeing so many people from the community come out in such numbers to support us, we’re blown away. We have never been to Tipperary in our lives and to see so many people, young people from the schools and the surrounding communities, come out and give us their time, engage and listen to what we have to say.

“It is hugely important and they are such a big part of this mission, we could not do this alone, together we are making dementia visible and we will forever be thankful to the people here in Tipperary for getting behind us.”

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I then asked him what had brought them to Tipperary.

“We are on a mission to make dementia visible following losing our Mum and 12 Irish relatives to the same form of FTD. Sadly my Mum was 47 when she got diagnosed. We cared for her in the family home along with my two siblings and my Dad, watching her being stripped of everything that made her the amazing person that she was.

“She died at the age of 52 and sadly two years later I found out that I am a carrier of the genetic mutation which causes it, and I have gone on a mission to make dementia visible and bring some positivity back into the world.

I have been doing this for eight years now, crazy running challenges, but always wanted to come back here to Ireland, the home of all the relatives that we have lost to this disease, the place my Mum was so fond of and where she spent so much time growing up alongside her cousins, aunts and uncles, and being able to re-ignite that connection that has been severed by dementia is amazing.

“24 days in, our 23rd county in a row on this mission to run 33 consecutive marathons, and I feel hugely grateful and privileged for all the support.”

I composed a poem titled 32 Counties for Geraldine and I asked Jordan what he felt about the poem.

“It is hugely powerful to have yourself articulate that in a poem, it is very poignant and I look forward to reading that later. When you are in something like this and it’s unravelling so quick, it’s very surreal and it’s hard to be present and gauge the scale of everything that’s going on and the support that we are receiving and the impact that we are having on an entire nation, it feels.

“It will be a hugely special moment when we read the poem together with the support team and we thank you Martin for that.”

I then asked Cian what he felt when he saw the crowd in Tipperary.

“It’s fantastic, we have not been to Tipp before and we had heard good things and the people have been so friendly. It was hard to get the cars into the grounds as the place was flooded with school children and people from the community. Again we thank everyone for that as it’s a midweek day and people could have been at work and the fact that they have come out to support two strangers is a very special thing.

“I am glad that we are putting dementia on the map, making dementia visible and I am glad that people are listening and we are hopefully doing the people of Tipp proud today.”

I also asked him about the impact of the campaign.

“At first we were naive as to how big or how profound the impact of this campaign could be. We set a financial target and that was our biggest focus at the beginning, but it’s kind of transcended and gone beyond that, and young people have been inspired to exercise for the first time, and people say; you have got me into running, you’ve allowed me to articulate my own experience with dementia or you’ve made me feel that I am less alone if I am caring for a parent.

“The fact that we can be a little beacon of hope just by sharing our lived experience with dementia is a massive thing, outside and above and beyond the financial target we set for ourselves, so I am very proud of that.”

Two wonderful young men who deserve the very best that life can bring them.