A Thurrock police officer is gearing up for the London Marathon next month in a bid to raise cash for the Alzheimer’s Society in memory of her late Grandmother.
Dc Jenna Potter, who works as a detective in Thurrock, is hoping to raise a significant amount of money to honour her Grandmother Rose White, who died as a result of the disease in 2010 at the age of 79. Jenna, who worked for seven years as a police officer in Basildon and Laindon before moving over to Thurrock, grew up in Basildon, and was extremely close to Rose, who was a pillar of the Basildon community.
Before being diagnosed with the disease in early 2003, Rose dedicated her life to helping others. Not only was she an integral part of the Basildon church community being a devout Christian, but she also spent most of her years educating troubled children.
Having moved from Shoreditch to Shortacre in Basildon as a new town in the 1950s, Rose taught children who were autistic at Elmbrook School, as well as The Bryn and Manor School, and in the 1980s, she dedicated her teaching time to troubled children and pregnant teenagers that were dismissed from mainstream education.
Dc Potter said of her late Grandmother: “She was a really devout Christian and would spend her spare time helping clean the church, and as the Alzheimer’s worsened, she couldn’t attend church as much as she did before she was diagnosed.
“I have a lot of admiration for my grandmother, and she gave up so much of her time to helping others, and it touches me that she helped troubled children when they had no where else to go.”
It took nearly five years for doctors to diagnose Alzheimer’s. Rose’s symptoms worsened over these years, and she was forgetting to eat and care for herself. At its most serious, Rose was found lost and confused by family friends, and she couldn’t remember where she lived.
It was at this point in early 2010 that her family moved into Gyhllgrove nursing home where she was cared for until she died two years ago. Dc Potter added: “With Alzheimer’s, the whole family suffer, not just the patient. It is an awful disease that takes away the soul of the person they used to be, and what is left after the disease takes hold isn’t the person you know and love. Anyone who has a loved one with Alzheimer’s will tell you the worst part of it is that they don’t remember who their family are, which is completely heartbreaking.
“I want to do something special in memory of my Grandmother, who gave so much of herself to my family and the Basildon community, and it is important to me to raise money for the Alzheimer’s society, who do so much important work not only to trial drugs that prolong the symptoms of the disease so the family have more time with their loved one, but they also do fantastic work to help those who care for the patients by giving them respite.”
Dc Potter has been training since October 2011, and so far has run a maximum of 15 miles in one go. “I hope to complete it in five hours, which will be a massive achievement. I’ve never run a marathon before, and I have heard a few horror stories from other police officers that your toenails fall off, which scares me! But if it takes me 10 hours and I have to crawl past the finish line, I will do it to make sure I raise money for such a deserving charity, and to keep the proud memory of my wonderful Grandmother alive.
“I am grateful to everyone that has sponsored me so far, and I know times are tough at the moment, but even if you can only spare a small amount please do so I can raise as much cash as possible and hopefully reach my £2,000 target for such a deserving cause.”
If you would like to sponsor Dc Jenna Potter, please visit: www.virginmoneygiving.com/jennapotter
