Carmel Geoghegan is friend and supporter to Helen Rochford Brennan, a member of the European Working Group of People with Dementia. She writes, here, about a recent road trip she took together with Helen and about the wider topic of driving after a dementia diagnosis: For those of us who are not living with a dementia diagnosis, it is impossible to understand what it must mean to even consider never driving again. Driving is a lifeline, in particular in rural areas of any country where public transport is unreliable or non-existent and where neighbours may be some distance away.
In October 2021, I had the most exciting adventure when I was invited to accompany my friend and inspiration Helen Rochford Brennan on a road trip to Scotland. Helen lives in a rural village in Co. Sligo and I live in Connemara, Co. Galway, in the West of Ireland. Helen was eager to go and meet up with her dear friends who live in Scotland. We drove to Belfast and took the ferry to Cairnryan, then drove to Ayr, birth place of Robert Burns the famous poet. Then, on to Glasgow where we met up with Agnes Houston, the amazing advocate and author of the leaflet “Dementia & Sensory Challenges”. We then met with another strong advocate, James McKillop for coffee, and discussed the world’s happenings. We were delighted to also meet with our colleague Jim Pearson from Alzheimer Scotland for breakfast.
Always a pleasure and we took the obligatory selfie! We took off to go further north, through Stirling, but unfortunately due to COVID restrictions we didn’t get to visit Stirling University or meet with Professor Karen Watchman. That’s definitely another trip for the future! It is important, at this stage, that I tell you how Helen had added me to her car insurance so I could share the driving but she was in full control and I got very little time behind the wheel.
As we continued up to Cromarty, on the Black Isle, we stopped off at Loch Ness to see if the Monster was available for a selfie – no joy! We spent a few days in the wonderful company of Nancy McAdam, another selfless advocate for the rights of people with dementia. Nancy lives an amazing full life on the Black Isle, where her beautiful cottage is located in a very rural area and as she does not drive, she has to walk some distance to access public transport.
I was very privileged to have had the pleasure of Helen’s company for a week and to meet up with her great friends and colleagues. Just because someone gets a diagnosis this does not mean they can no longer live a full independent life. As a parting thought, I would say let us be non-judgemental and live with an open mind. I was reminded of the importance of this when we were meeting for coffee with another distinguished person who is a voice for rural ageing, but who assumed that I would be driving, not Helen!
Pictured: Carmel Geoghegan (left), Helen Rochford Brennan (centre) and Jim Pearson