OCEAN Grove\u2019s Brendan Waites is on a mission to raise awareness of dementia after coming face to face with how the awful disease has affected his mum.<\/p>\n
Mr Waites, owner of Ocean Grove Camera & Photo, said it was on Boxing Day when he saw up close for the first time what dementia could do to a person.<\/p>\n
\u201cA few months ago, my mum Janice was diagnosed with dementia,\u201d Mr Waites said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose who know mum know she is a person filled with kindness, laughter and friendliness, traits I hope she has passed on to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Waites said his mother had recently been placed into care, and over Christmas he was able to take her home to enjoy a visit from family and friends.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was great and mum enjoyed spending time with her family and a few of her grand kids,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI volunteered to take her back to her place of care.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was then when my own mother became someone else.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was \u2018gone\u2019 and was replaced by a stranger \u2013 a violent, abusive stranger.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs much as I tried to tell myself this was the dementia talking, it was incredibly difficult to see and hear my mum be this way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Waites said he eventually had to walk away because it was too much.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to leave my mum in a strange place, with nobody there she could recognise and nobody close to her.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe incredible staff were fantastic and they knew what I had just experienced.<\/p>\n
\u201cI found my way out through cloudy eyes, got in my car and wept.<\/p>\n
\u201cI drove back to the support of my wife and family and just sat and stared for a while.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Waites said that evening he had to get out and do what he did best \u2013 take some photos.<\/p>\n
\u201cMostly because photography is my thing, but probably more to distract myself from the day\u2019s events,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI drove with my wife Sally and my dog to Lake Tutchewop, close to Lake Boga in Victoria\u2019s Mallee region\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Waites said he captured a photo that now had a significant meaning to him, and that he wanted to share it and his story to raise more awareness of the terrible disease.<\/p>\n
He has already raised more than $1,200 for Dementia Australia through the sale of his photo. To order a copy, head to cameraandphoto.com.au\/pro_event.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
OCEAN Grove\u2019s Brendan Waites is on a mission to raise awareness of dementia after coming face to face with how the awful disease has affected his mum. Mr Waites, owner of Ocean Grove Camera & Photo, said it was on Boxing Day when he saw up close for the first time what dementia could do […]<\/p>\n