A BRAVE widow ran a half marathon in memory of her husband – a year after his death.

Kathy Scott-Wilson took part in the race in Fleetwood on her late husband Dave's birthday in August.

The 51-year-old, from Heaton, completed the 13.5 mile race for the National Brain Appeal charity despite having only taken up running a few months ago.

Dave Wilson, aged 69, died, in August last year, after suffering from frontotemporal dementia, a rare form of the disease.

Mrs Scott-Wilson wanted to raise money towards research into the disease and chose The National Brain Appeal charity, which helped fund the Dementia Research Centre.

She said: “My friend Jacqui said I smiled all the way around the course. I was so focused on raising money for The National Brain Appeal.

"It was sheer determination to honour Dave’s memory. I even sprinted the last 100 metres. I imagined Dave standing at the finish line, pint in hand, saying ‘well done love’!”

Kathy’s achievement in both completing the race and raising £400 for the charity has helped her come to terms with her loss.

Even though her husband had been ill for two years, the couple only got a diagnosis weeks before he died. Mrs Scott-Wilson had been his round-the-clock carer, barely getting any sleep.

It was only when he went for a weekend of respite care that the manager of the home recognised the symptoms of frontotemporal dementia - also known as Pick’s disease. Mrs Scott-Wilson looked up the disease and realised that her husband had every symptom.

However, it was a struggle to get a formal diagnosis. Eventually their social worker and doctor referred him to a neurologist who finally diagnosed frontotemporal dementia. He died four weeks later.

Mrs Scott-Wilson added: “Dave went from being a real character with the cheekiest grin and a wicked laugh to having no facial expression and losing his ability to speak normally. I couldn’t tell if he was happy or sad. His inhibitions changed.

"He would also be awake all night and wander around. I found him gardening once at 3am in the pouring rain, so I had to hide all the keys so he couldn’t get out and accidentally harm himself.

He went from being a good eater to not being interested in food. It was 24/7 care and I was exhausted. It must have been so awful for Dave too as he could understand everything.

When people talk about dementia they assume your memory is affected, but that’s not the case with frontotemporal dementia.”

Her husband was an HGV driver and a father of four from previous relationships. He met his wife-to-be at a country and western music club in 2003. They married five years later.

Currently there is no treatment available for frontotemporal dementia.

Dementia affects more than 850,000 people in the UK and approximately 40,000 are under the age of 65.

For more information about The National Brain Appeal’s Rare Dementia Support fund and to make a donation go to: http://www.nationalbrainappeal.org/current-appeals/rare-dementia-support-fund/