JEFFERSONVILLE —
Debbie Tuggle recalls the pain she felt as her mother’s Alzheimer’s worsened during the last 20 years.
“It’s indescribable,” she said. “She just ceased to be herself,” she said.
Tuggle, 58, said her mother was just a few years older than she is when signs of the disease first started to show.
“At the end of her life, she was basically in a vegetative state,” she said.
She died March 27, which Tuggle describes as being “finally released from her suffering.” And just as she’s dealing with her mother’s passing, her father was recently diagnosed with the disease as well. The circumstance, she said, has heightened she and her sisters’ desire to push even harder to find a cure for the mental illness. The Mudd Sister’s Annual Steamboat Race Benefit, seeks to do just that.
Tuggle and her sisters — Leslie Mudd, Ann Mudd and Janet Sweet — last year raised $21,000 for the Alzheimer’s Association Greater Kentucky and Southern Indiana Chapter. They’re hoping for similar success at this year’s event, which is scheduled for 5 p.m. May 2 at KingFish Restaurant, 601 W. Riverside Drive in Jeffersonville.
The age 21 and older party goes until about 11 p.m. Tickets are $35 in advance; $40 at the door; or groups of five or more can get a discounted ticket at $30. There’s a cash bar and heavy hors d’oeuvres will be served. New this year will be live music by The Louisville Crashers, which Tuggle said has increased interest in the party.
It’s the seventh year for the event, which started out as a party hosted by her sister, Leslie Mudd, before turning into a fundraiser.
“It keeps getting bigger. KingFish has been incredibly accommodating. On a beautiful day, you just can’t beat it,” she said.
Those interested in attending need to make a reservation by emailing devin.roos@alz.org or calling 502-451-4266.
MAKING IT COUNT
As rewarding as the fundraiser is each year, Tuggle said there’s still no cure for Alzheimer’s. According to the association, an estimated 5.4 million people are living with the disease in the United States, including at least 800,000 who live alone.
Unless something is done to change the trajectory of the disease, as many as 16 million Americans will have Alzheimer’s by 2050. The cost of caring for people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias is estimated to total $200 billion in 2012 and is projected to increase to $1.1 trillion per year [in today’s dollars] by mid-century, according to the association.
The Alzheimer’s Association is the world’s largest nonprofit funder of Alzheimer’s disease research.
“A portion of all funds raised in our local chapter supports this effort,” said Teri Shirk, president and chief executive officer of the local chapter. “In addition, the chapter provides services to the more than 100,000 families in Greater Kentucky and Southern Indiana.”
Local services include a 24-hour helpline, family caregiver workshops, support groups and a website, alz.org. In 2011, the Alzheimer’s Association International Research Grant Program awarded more than $12.8 million in funding to 78 investigators. Since 1982, the association has committed more than $292 million.
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Related Photos
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Debbie Tuggle and her sisters, Leslie Mudd, Ann Mudd and Janet Sweet, have held a Great Steamboat Race party for the last seven years to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Association in honor of their mother, who battled the disease for 20 years. She died March 27. Submitted photo
Discussion
Party with a purpose: Mudd sisters continue fundraising tradition by honoring mom’s memory
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