A young woman who spent much of her childhood selflessly caring for her grandmother who had Alzheimer’s disease has qualified as a DOCTOR specialising in the disease.
Devoted Hannah Omran, 24, spent her weekends and evenings as a child visiting her gran Teresa Edwards after she was diagnosed with the degenerative disease aged just 48.
Tragically, Teresa died aged 59 in 2000 when Hannah was just 11 but after her funeral the determined schoolgirl vowed to follow a medical career.
Hannah began training when she was 18 and has now qualified as a junior doctor at the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham.
Hannah, from Lenton, Nottingham, said: “My nana adored me when I was a child and was always taking me out and about.
“There were warning signs when I was younger but when I was about four they got a proper diagnosis.
“From then I wasn’t left with my nana so often because she was putting herself at risk with the things she’d do.
“She accidentally set herself alight while she was in her pyjamas and she was forgetful.
“I would visit her as much as I could as I got older and spent a lot of my childhood in hospitals.
“It definitely spurred me to go into the medical profession.
“It angered me because she was so young and it was unfair that this should happen.
“I’m interested in palliative care because I think it’s incredibly important.
“I do think my nana being part of my life had a big impact on that.
“End of life care, particularly with patients with dementia, can be incredibly difficult.”
Hannah, who also supports work done by Alzheimer’s Research UK, added: “I think she’d be proud of me becoming a doctor. She was passionate about education for women.
“She said that it is the one thing no one can ever take it away from you and it gives you power.
“Once you’re diagnosed things can look very bleak which is why Alzheimer’s Research UK is so important because we need a cure.
“People think it’s a natural part of ageing but it’s not. Also, to get it in your 40s, people think it doesn’t happen but it does.
“For someone to develop Alzheimer’s and be aware that they’re developing it must be terrifying
“Having seen it myself with nana and at work, I know that you lose the person twice with Alzheimer’s.”
I believe it is important for children to understand Alzheimer’s disease so they can still interact lovingly with family members who have this disease. I am a 17 year old college junior, Alzheimer’s researcher, and Alzheimer’s advocate.I grew up as a caregiver to my great grandmother who had Alzheimer’s disease. After her death, I founded a nonprofit organization that had distributed over 24,000 puzzles to Alzheimer’s facilities. Recently, the book I coauthored explaining Alzheimer’s disease to children became available on Amazon.My hope was to provide some helpful coping mechanisms to the many children dealing with Alzheimer’s disease among their family members. 50 percent of the profits from this book will go to Alzheimer’s causes. I think this book could help a lot of children and families. “Why Did Grandma Put Her Underwear in Refrigerator? A Book Explaining Alzheimer’s Disease to Children.” http://amzn.to/13FYYxh