THREE generations of a County Durham family are raising money to fight dementia after two close relatives were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s a year apart.

In the space of 12 months, Catherine Hartley, from Thornley, learned her 74-year-old husband Philip and mother Annie, 88, both had the condition.

Now the 67-year-old will be joined by daughter Helen Maw, 41, and granddaughter Catherine, 18, in raising funds for the Alzheimer’s Society.

The trio will step out at this year’s Memory Walk in South Shields on October 8.

Mrs Hartley said: “After my mother was struck down with this this dreadful condition it was a real blow to discover my husband had it too.

“It’s difficult to put into words how we felt after the diagnosis. We wandered around like zombies for a fortnight, not knowing what to think.

Although he is forgetful, former factory storeman Mr Hartley is coping with his condition.

He said: “My way of coping is to write everything down, such as the details of conversations and so on. I have lists all over the house and, for the moment, that seems to be working for me.

“It gets frustrating at times, for others as well as me, but I don’t do it on purpose”.

His wife first noticed something was wrong two years ago when she fell and broke her leg.

She said: “I spent 12 days in hospital and when I came home I noticed Philip seemed to be forgetting things a lot.

“He would also get depressed and frustrated about little things, but I just put it down to his age.

“Then one day at a family get-together he wandered off to the bottom and the garden and we found him crying. He knew himself something was seriously wrong.”

Daughter Helen, from Sunderland, said she was looking forward to the day.

She said: “The Memory Walk route is almost identical to the walk I used to do with my nana Annie, so that will be lovely. It’s great that all three of us are taking part.”

To sponsor the family, visit www.justgiving.com and search for Helen Maw. Further details about the Memory Walk are available at found at www.memorywalk.org.uk