Family, friends, caregivers walk today for loved ones lost to Alzheimer's

YOUNGSTOWN

Not long ago, Fran Chickonoski went from being someone who was quite outgoing, loved to travel and enjoyed daily jaunts to exercise at one of the area’s YMCAs, to a person who struggles with daily tasks such as eating and bathing.

All of that is courtesy of having been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

“She’s still quite happy, and she lives with me,” said Chickonoski’s daughter, Karen Crogan of Canfield, who also acts as her mother’s caregiver while raising her own young children.

Crogan was one of seven people who made up a team called “Friends of Fran,” one of many groups that participated in Saturday morning’s annual Mahoning Valley Walk to End Alzheimer’s. The event kicked off at Youngstown State University’s Watson and Tressel Training Site on Elm Street.

Sponsoring the gathering was the Alzheimer Association of Greater East Ohio Area chapter, which provides education, guidance, referrals and support for the region’s estimated 60,000 people with the disease, as well as about 250,000 caregivers.

At least 700 people took the 2-mile walk around the YSU campus individually or on teams to remember and honor loved ones with the progressive disease as well as those who have died from complications related to it.

Read more about the event in Sunday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.