Produced by Rebedda Le Tourneau.
I have worked as a reporter and producer for Australian television, radio and press for more than 25 years across all networks and numerous programmes and publications. I am very proud to have produced the segment I am submitting, The Vanishing, for Network 7's Sunday Night.
I heard about one of the young mothers in our story and waas touched by her miseraable situation. Rebecca Doig was only 31 and three weeks prior to the airing of our story gave birth to a baby girl. She was married to a man she loved deeply and planned to have a large family. One year ago she started forgetting simple things and becoming easily confused. Eventually she lost her job. She thought she was going mad and several times told her husband that he should leave her because life was becoming unbearable. In November last year the couple discovered she was pregnant with their first child but thei joy was blurred by her obvious mental degeneration. Three days later tests came back revealing she had a ravaged brain and was diagnosed with rapid early-onset dementia.
Prior to the story I had no idea Alzheimer's could attach somebody so young but I was to discover Rebecca wasn't the only one. My investigatins led me to a brilliant man, Professor Ralph Martin from thThe McCusker Alzheimer's Research Fopundation, who was desperately researching early intervention drugs and therapies with limited funds. He introduced me to Lorinda Klaric who at 32, with three young children had also been diagnosed with the condition. Lorinda was just a few months into the disease and had already lost her grandmother, aunty, cousin and her mother who died at 33 years. Knowing that she doesn't have long, Lorinda's greatest fear is leaving behind her three beautiful daughters.
Both families were devastated as early-onset Alzheimer's is a ferocious disease. By the time the symptoms appear the sufferer's brain may have already been deteriorating for 120 to 15 years and there is little left to save. What is really alarming is that if nothing happens in 30 years all of us will either have Alzheimer's or will be looking after somebody who does.
Professor Martin was on the cusp of discovering a blood test to identify people with a family history of Alzheimer's who may be at risk of developing the disease so that he could offer help before too many brain cells were lost.
The story was an amazing journey of scientific hope and inspired thinking, but also of tragedy and enormous sadness. I will alsways be grateful to Rebecca and Scott Doig and to the family of Lorinda Klaric for allowing us to spend time with them and inform the community about the condition and about Professor Martin's unrelenting search for answers.
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