Coatbridge woman determined to ‘make a difference’ after nana lived with dementia for 10 years

Megan Tumilty, 23, will retrace the steps of her nana’s life as she raises money and awareness for Alzheimer Scotland during a charity walk.

Margaret Quinn sadly passed away last year, aged 68, after a near decade-long battle with the illness.

She was first diagnosed with early onset dementia in 2011, aged 59.

While watching her nana’s disease progress was tough as she “lost her full being”, Megan, from Coatbridge, has been motivated to make a difference by fundraising and even used dementia as her dissertation subject.

The University of the West of Scotland graduate completed her Social Sciences degree with a dissertation entitled ‘The Societal and Medical Misconceptions Towards Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease’.

READ MORE: Bearsden man speaks out after mum's dementia diagnosis

Megan said: “When my nana got diagnosed, I was still quite young.

“I didn’t even understand it could result in death. I just thought she’ll have it, she’ll forget wee things over time, but it hit home when we got in touch with Alzheimer Scotland.

“We didn’t know how severe it was until it affected us.

“As it got more advanced five years after her diagnosis, it was horrible when we came to the decision to put her in a care home.

“We were struggling, you felt like you were giving up on her.

“The emotional side of my nana was so erratic, she’d be screaming one minute, crying the next and you just couldn’t comfort her at all.

“She needed round-the-clock care by professionals.

“Though we had her home for some of the pandemic, we hated having to put her back in the home and couldn’t see her during part of Covid. She deteriorated rapidly then.

“Thankfully we had her out for the last few months of her life, but she was a shell of what she was.

“It was shocking - she’d lost so much weight, couldn’t eat solid food, couldn’t speak or walk and had lost control of her bladder.

“Us being up every day had kept her active and kept her going but when we lost that she deteriorated faster.”

Megan will take part in the Alzheimer Scotland’s ‘Memory Walk’ on September 17 in honour of her nana.

Along with her boyfriend Jordan Pairman, Megan will walk a nine-mile route around Coatbridge, inspired by Margaret’s life.

On their way, they will stop in at all of Margaret’s homes, St Stephen’s Primary School - where she worked as a janitor - and other locations such as Coltswood Cemetery where she is buried.

A keen supporter of dementia awareness, Megan is completing her sixth Memory Walk and credits her nana as her “inspiration and motivation for completing the walk every year”.

Despite the tough times for Megan and her family, they prefer to remember Margaret as a “glamorous” woman who loved music, particularly Shania Twain.

Megan said: “She went to see Shania Twain in concert when she was quite advanced with Alzheimer’s.

“She struggled to walk, only small steps, she couldn’t talk, she couldn’t lift her head, but she loves Shania Twain.

“My mum and my papa took her to see her at the Hydro and she loved it. Even though she was so unwell she just loved going and hearing Shania Twain.

“She loved listening to her throughout her full illness.”

She added: “She was always such a glamorous woman.

“Everyone always said that she was always so well put together - her hair, her make-up, jewellery and always done up properly.

“Even when she worked as a janitor in the school, everyone used to always say she’s such a good-looking janitor!”

Megan is keen to encourage others to get involved with the Memory Walk, reiterating the help Alzheimer Scotland provided her and her family in understanding dementia.

She said: “It’s such an important charity to raise money for and everyone who knows me well knows how important it is to me and how much I go on about it because you don’t realise how serious it can be.

“Even though it was a horrible experience for the full family, it was something we’re not glad to have been through, but glad we could’ve been there.

“We were there for my nana in the right way, the way she actually needed someone.

“You knew how to do music therapy, sit there and hold her hand, talk even though she wasn’t responding and we’re glad we at least had those moments with her.

“Whereas, something so sudden you wouldn’t have had that.”