Neurology charity Headway Suffolk is delighted to announce its third keynote speaker at their Neuro Conference on 4 October 2017 at BT Labs at Adastral Park, Martlesham Heath.
Chris Graham captured the national media’s attention last year with his incredible story of completing a 16,000-mile solo cycle ride around North America after learning of his diagnosis of an extremely rare, early-onset form of Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 34. He is now 40.
The former British Army soldier inherited the PSEN1 gene mutation from his father, who died aged just 42. His four-year older brother Tony is also affected and requires round-the-clock care, while it also claimed the lives of his aunt, cousin and granddad in their forties.
Chris and wife Vicky’s two-year-old son Dexter has a 50/50 chance of carrying the faulty gene, which effects 400 families worldwide. Chris has two other children from a previous relationship – Natalie, aged 17, and Marcus, 16, as well as grandson Jacob, six months. All have a 50/50 chance of inheriting the disease.
His epic journey around the US and Canada coastline and heart-warming story is told through his uplifting book Five Minutes of Amazing, which was published in September 2016.
The book was co-written by Suffolk-based author and former war reporter Wendy Holden, whose catalogue of over 30 books include autobiographies of Hollywood actress Goldie Hawn and Frank Sinatra’s widow Barbara. Wendy will be in the audience for the Neuro Conference.
Chris, who had already climbed Mount Kilimanjaro after doctors said keeping fit was the best hope for sustaining his health, raised £52,000 for Alzheimer’s Research and the ABF Soldiers Charity from the eight-month cycle ride.
Helen Fairweather, Chief Executive of Headway Suffolk, said: “I read Chris’s book and felt it was such an inspirational story that it would be amazing to have him speak at our conference. I am delighted that he accepted our invitation.”
Chris, from Oxfordshire, will join two other confirmed speakers: author and educator Dr Jane Hawking, who will talk on her life as a family carer following her first marriage to world-renowned scientist Professor Stephen Hawking, and Dr Tim Lockington, a consultant at Ipswich Hospital, who will be presenting on Parkinson’s disease.
Tickets are again priced at £30. Early booking can made at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/headway-suffolks-neurological-conference-2017-tickets-29688174128.
The event is again being kindly sponsored by BT and Irwin Mitchell solicitors.
