Man nears end of daily sea swim challenge for mum
A man whose goal was to swim in the sea every day for a year after his mum was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease has the finish line in his sights.
James Madeley, 36 and from Cleadon, South Tyneside, began his challenge in honour of his mother Carol last January, swimming every day in the North Sea or other oceans while on holiday, and will achieve his goal on Saturday.
As well as smashing his target of £300 by raising more than £2,000 for Parkinson’s UK, he said he also wanted to raise awareness of the disease.
Mr Madeley, a dentist who works in Sunderland and grew up in Yarm, said the challenge had been “pretty tough” but “invigorating”, while his mother said his efforts had been “amazing”.
Mr Madeley said he had been “blown away” by people’s generosity and his family had been a “great support”.
“Mum’s doing great at the moment,” he said, adding: “She’s progressing well, she’s still active.
“We’re dead proud of [her].”
Mrs Madeley, 65, said she was “quite taken back” and started to cry when her son told her he wanted to do the challenge.
She said she did not know a lot about Parkinson’s disease until she started getting the symptoms, so her son raising money and awareness was “amazing”.
“About six years ago, I started getting a little tremor in my hand,” she said, adding: “We didn’t think much of it.
“And then I got diagnosed about a year ago as I started to lose a bit of fine walking, getting a little bit more rigid, losing a few of the motor skills.”
She said receiving medication meant some of her symptoms had subsided.
‘I’m proud of him’
Her husband Steven Madeley, 64, said the recently retired couple now wanted to “make the most” of their time together.
He said they had been following their son’s progress every morning and he joined him briefly in the Irish Sea at Christmas but “could barely walk” for 20 minutes afterwards due to the cold.
“That gives me even more respect for what [James is] doing, and I’m even more proud of him,” Mr Madeley said.
According to the NHS, Parkinson’s disease is a condition in which parts of the brain become progressively damaged over many years.
The main symptoms of Parkinson’s disease include involuntary shaking of particular parts of the body, slow movement and stiff and inflexible muscles.
Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
This was shown first on: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgk8706j8e6o
