Maleny welcomes brothers on ‘Really Big Walk’ for Parkinson’s
Vince Kelly, left, and Joe Kelly, right, were given a warm welcome to Maleny by Member for Glass House Andrew Powell, second from right, Hospital staff and the Parkinson’s community.
After walking 270 kilometres over nine days, Member for Greenslopes Joe Kelly and his brother Vince have finished A Really Big Walk, in support of people with Parkinson’s in Queensland.
In honour of their parents who were both impacted by a Parkinson’s diagnosis, the brothers were eager for a challenge that would push them to make a difference. They finished in Coolum on Sunday.
On Thursday they dropped in to Maleny Soldiers Memorial Hospital to acknowledge the support their mother received from the renowned Movement Disorder Clinic.
“I guess for me, The Big Walk is also about doing something that I know Dad was unable to do for the last few years of his life, and that Mum is now struggling with, and that is actually walking,” Joe said. “Walking is such an important part of health. It’s such an important part of life, and you don’t know what you have until it’s gone.”
“My father was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in the mid 1990s and after nearly 20 years of managing the condition as best he could, we sadly lost him in 2013.
“My mother was also diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2012 when she was 74 years old.
“There is currently no cure for Parkinson’s, so the support services Parkinson’s Queensland provide are so important in ensuring those with Parkinson’s are able to live a relatively normal life.”
Parkinson’s Disease is a degenerative neurological condition, which can result in the loss of the ability to walk, eat and speak, as well as presenting problems with depression, memory, sleep and chronic pain.
Mr Kelly said he saw all these symptoms in his mother and most of them in his late father.
“It has been really difficult to see the people I love go through these changes.”
The brothers had already raised more than $36,000 by Thursday, with three days to go.
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