Bend Alzheimer’s walk aims to help find cure

People in Bend are fighting back against the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States. This Sunday in Bend, there’s a Walk to End Alzheimer’s.

Kendall Brownrigg lives in Bend and joined the Alzheimer’s Association because of her dad.

A few years ago, he left home to get his hair cut and didn’t make it back. Brownrigg’s family reported him missing, and two days later, he was found hundreds of miles away in Coos Bay, dehydrated and confused but otherwise okay.

The Alzheimer’s diagnosis that came soon after explained everything. Kendall Brownrigg then got involved with the Walk to end Alzheimer’s, which she says gave her a sense of purpose and allowed her to connect with others that have gone through similar experiences.

“You often think that you’re going insane, or that you’re imagining things, and you’re dealing with a lot of tough situations,” she said Wednesday. “Emotional situations. To be able to share that experience with different people in all different levels of their family members going through Alzheimer’s, it’s very therapeutic for all of us.”

Currently, more than 16 million Americans are taking care of over five million people suffering from Alzheimer’s.

While the walk Sunday is in the spirit of finding a cure, that’s not the only goal with the money raised.

“It’s going to a lot of the research involved in finding why this is happening as opposed to just finding a cure for it,” association member Travis Waiton said. “If we can stop it before it starts, I think we’re going to be in a lot better shape trying to find that magic pill, so to speak, to take care of this going forward.”

The walk on Sunday starts at 10 in the morning at Riverbend Park in Bend. Find more details at http://act.alz.org/site/TR/Walk2017/OR-Oregon?pg=entry&fr_id=10052