A great grandfather and former Suffolk Police officer with 30 years service with the force is planning a charity abseil 100 metres down the Emirate’s Spinnaker Tower, in Portsmouth, to raise money for two charities close to his heart.
Trevor Root is set to carry out the stunt with Mandy Foster in a bid to boost the funds of the Alzheimer’s Society and the Arthur Rank Hospice, in Cambridge.
Operating under the team name of “Daring To Care” the couple have so far raised over £3,000 but they are hoping they can increase that figure with the abseil taking place on Sunday, August 5.
The 77-year-old, who lives in Risby, near Bury St Edmunds, who has 10 grandchildren and one great grandchild, is not new to daring exploits as three years ago he carried out a tanden free fall skydive and also a wing walk when he raised over £4,000 for the Alzheimer’s Society.
Now he is linking up with his 57-year-old friend from Girton, near Cambridge, the widow of a former school friend Clive Foster who lost his fight with cancer last year.
Mr Root said: “We had grown up together until I moved to Ipswich to join the then Ipswich Borough Police. I remained in Suffolk in the police force serving in Bury St Edmunds, Mildenhall, Newmarket, Martlesham and the regional crime squad in Harlow and retired after 30 years.
“I had already decided to do something else for charity this year and just before Clive died I asked him if he wished to name a charity.
“I would split the proceeds between the Alzheimer’s Society and his choice of charity. He selected the Arthur Rank Hospice, in Cambridge, because of the help they gave him during his illness and his wife said ‘I’ll do it with you.’ So here were are.”
His 74-year-old wife has been suffering with Alzheimer’s for some eight or nine years and is currently in a residential care at Glastonbury Court, in Bury.
He vividly remembers the moment he knew he was losing his wife to Alzheimer’s disease.
Standing in his kitchen doorway, he quietly watched his wife of 50 years stared out of the window.
“I stood just watching her, the tears rolling down my face, just wondering where she had gone, where her mind was,” he says.
For years he looked after her at home as the disease gradually robbed her of memories and conversation.
He visits her three times a week and has become determined to raise money to support the treatment and care of those suffering from Alzheimer’s - the most common form of dementia.
“I’ve come to terms with it now. I miss her. I miss her terribly. But nothing’s going to change,” he added.
“Nothing is going to bring Sal back to me but I might help other people in the future.”
To suppourt the pair go to their website https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/daringtocare
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