Clarkstown police officer to run 100 miles to fight Alzheimer's

Last fall, Colleen Kelly of New City lost both of her parents, who were in their early 70s, within nine days of each other. Her mother, Dorothy Kelly, had been living with Alzheimer’s for several years, and the stress of caregiving took a heavy toll on her father, George Kelly, who ultimately developed a respiratory infection that led to his death.

“My father would often say, ‘You know this is going to kill me, taking care of your mother. You hear of all the caregivers dying sooner,’ and I would just say, ‘You need things to look forward to,’ Colleen Kelly said, noting that her parents had both worked all their lives and looked forward to retiring in Florida together. She said her father did buy a house in Florida, but only owned it for a few months before he passed away. “Now it’s on the market,” she added.

Colleen Kelly’s husband, Andrew Kelly, has committed to running 100 miles for the Alzheimer’s Association’s Longest Day fundraiser on Oct. 6 at the Oil Creek 100 in Pennsylvania, in which participants have 32 hours to complete the run. The Longest Day encourages people to choose any activity they wish to raise money to fight Alzheimer’s. The event culminates on the longest day of the year, the summer solstice, in honor of the long days spent by caregivers of those with dementia.

A police officer in the Town of Clarkstown Police Department, Andrew Kelly previously ran 100 miles 10 years ago to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project.

“When I saw the Longest Day, I thought, ‘What could be longer than running for an entire day?’ It (Alzheimer’s) is a struggle, a tremendous struggle for everyone, and this race just exemplifies that for me. It really just strips you of everything,” Andrew Kelly said of the run. “You’re out there, tearing up in happiness that you’re able to do this. At any moment, you could just fall apart. You start this race knowing you only have a 60 percent chance of completing it.

“It just brings you to a whole different realm, the struggles physically and internally. It’s almost spiritual, really, for me. The whole time out there, it’s all about gratitude, and the struggle alone is why I’m trying to raise money for Alzheimer’s,” he said. “There’s got to be a cure, there just has to be. It’s just so prevalent. A cure would be fantastic so no one has to go through this.”

Colleen Kelly’s uncle died from Alzheimer’s five years before her mother started showing symptoms.

“I first noticed that she was losing things or not knowing where she was going, or having conversations with me that she already had. You don’t notice right away that this could be Alzheimer’s,” Colleen Kelly said, noting that her mother also began saying things that were out of character for her.

“My sister had a baby on my birthday, and my mother called to tell me that she had a baby, but completely didn’t mention that it was my birthday,” she recalled.

Then she stopped recognizing her husband and began to wander.

“When she started to forget who my father was, she was becoming petrified of him. She would stay with me at my house, and she would start wandering, and I would literally just follow her through the roads around where I live. When she would get tired, I would direct her how to get home.”

She said her family didn’t talk about the situation at first.

“There was no discussion of anything because we didn’t know what was happening, and when my mother was still very coherent, she didn’t like people talking about her. It wasn’t until we were becoming desperate, it wasn’t until we were crying on the phone, that we heard of this Alzheimer’s Association in New City, and I called and spoke to someone. She was on the phone with me, and she said ‘I don’t want to say this is normal, but this is normal,’ and she started sending me fliers. I convinced my dad to go to a support group.”

“It’s very overwhelming," Colleen Kelly said. "I just feel like I went through many months, years, of not knowing what to do, what to say. When people break their legs, they post it on Facebook. Something happens to your brain, and nobody talks about that.”

Eventually she did post on Facebook and found support within the community.

“It wasn’t until my mother really had no idea what was going on, that I started saying things on Facebook. Then people started getting a clue that something was happening, and people messaged me and said they were going through this, too. Then a lot of them were coming to me. It was through the community that I was starting to feel more support.”

“So many people know nothing about this,” Colleen Kelly said of Alzheimer’s disease and the lack of effective treatment or cure. “There’s so many articles, and you read all of them, and you go crazy. It’s stressful not knowing.”

To view the Kelly family's Longest Day page, click here. For more information about The Longest Day, visit www.alz.org/tld.

The Alzheimer’s Association’s mission is to eliminate Alzheimer’s disease through the advancement of research; to provide and enhance care and support for all affected; and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health. Its vision is a world without Alzheimer’s. Visit www.alz.org/hudsonvalley or call 800.272.3900.