He keeps pushing back as the disease progresses

Fraser Cameron
U.K.

Year of diagnosis: 2021

Exercise of choice: I attend a Parkinson’s boxing class and try to do 100 push-ups and squats daily.

Favorite place to hike: I’ve done a lot of hiking in mountainous areas including Scotland and the French Alps, but most of my hiking was in the Lake District in northern England.

Toughest hike: I suppose the toughest hike I did was the Yorkshire 3 Peaks, 24 miles in just under 10 hours.

Advice for someone with PD who is just starting to exercise: To anyone newly diagnosed I recommend doing 100 push-ups and squats daily like I do. I don’t try to do them all at once, but in sets of 10 throughout the day. I recommend anyone to do this; you don’t need a gym to exercise.

Biggest challenge with Parkinson’s right now: I do not tremor, but I limp badly and suffer stiffness and lack of dexterity. My lack of focus and memory are my major concerns with the disease. To combat this I play chess and sudoku, and I am considering learning sign language following my going deaf in one ear recently. 

Advocacy work/service: I volunteer by picking up litter with a local mosque as well as phoning an isolated lonely person once a week on behalf of a local charity.

Career field: I worked for the police in a Neighbourhood Police Team until it became unsafe to be in a frontline role. I was transferred into an intelligence role until the mental effects of Parkinson’s forced me into ill health retirement last year.

Something the world should know: I recommend contacting a local Parkinson’s group. I put this off for several years but received great support and comfort when I finally did it.

Always push yourself and remember you are not alone.

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If you have Parkinson’s disease and the outdoors and exercise are part of your life, share your story in Unshakable Voices. Email unshakablehiker@gmail.com.