Music from the heart…
When Ben Walker’s mother Brenda was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, it was a shock to the whole family. After having trouble with her peripheral vision, Brenda had a series of tests and was eventually diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in February 2002.
“When we first learned about it, she told me that the diagnosis doesn’t change who she is, it’s just another path we have to go down together,” Ben said.
He said the feeling of helplessness when Brenda was first diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease was overwhelming. “But then I started to understand that there are treatments that can help, which was a relief.”
Since her diagnosis, Brenda has been on a treatment program that is helping enormously with her symptoms.
“But now I realise there is definitely more we can do, more than can be done – but it all comes down to more research. Research is vital to finding a cure,” Ben said.
After months of working through and trying to understand his mother’s diagnosis, Ben turned to a couple of fellow musicians, and together they wrote a new song based on the idea: ‘don’t forget I love you’.
“What’s the one thing I don’t want her to forget? It’s that I love her,” Ben said.
The song was co-written with fellow musicians Allan Caswell, Beth Lucas and Stephen Dobson. Allen Caswell is Australia’s most recorded songwriter with over 900 of his songs being released around the world by artists of the calibre of Cilla Black, The Irish Rovers, The Living End, Slim Dusty, and The Delltones.
‘I Won’t Forget’ went straight into the Community radio top 10 when it was released.
Ben has always loved music, a love which was supported by his mother when he was a child. “We always had a lot of music in the house, and mum was a good piano player.” After an unfortunate incident with a snapped cello neck when he was about 10, Ben’s interest in music waned but now he is an accomplished singer/songwriter who has performed at Tamworth Country Music Festival and has songs on the radio across the country.
You can listen to ‘I won’t forget’ on https://youtu.be/xBSnWqyie48
