FTD Brothers Run London Marathon Carrying 25kg Fridge to Raise £500,000 for Alzheimer's Research
Jordan and Cian Adams, who carry a gene giving them 99% chance of developing dementia in their 40s, completed the London Marathon and plan to run 32 consecutive marathons across Ireland
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- Jordan and Cian Adams, the FTD Brothers from Redditch, ran the London Marathon carrying a 25kg fridge on their backs, raising almost £500,000 for Alzheimer's Research UK.
- Both brothers carry a gene giving them a 99% likelihood of developing frontotemporal dementia in their mid-to-late 40s, having lost their mother Geraldine to the condition in 2016.
- They plan to run 32 consecutive marathons across Ireland in 32 days, aiming to raise £550,000 and reach a total of £1m in memory of their mother, who was one of 12 relatives lost to FTD.
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Jordan and Cian Adams, known as the FTD Brothers, have raised almost £500,000 following the London Marathon at the weekend. Jordan, carrying a 25kg fridge on his back, and Cian, both risk getting dementia in their 40s, and ran the 26.2 miles (42 km) on Sunday to raise cash for Alzheimer's Research UK.
A GoFundMe page for the Redditch brothers has hit more than £450,000, close to the £550,000 they now aim to raise with 32 consecutive marathons across Ireland over the next 32 days to go.
Jordan, speaking to BBC 5Live from the start line of his first Ireland marathon in Antrim, said: "We're in Ireland to honour the 12 relatives we lost [to frontotemporal dementia or FTD], who were all Irish."
"We're going to run 32 consecutive marathons in 32 days but I wanted to use the London Marathon as a launch pad and get as many eyes and ears across our story," he continued. "What better way to do that when, in November of last year, I came up with the idea to put a household appliance on my back and run the London Marathon."
Both brothers carry a gene that was passed down by their mother, Geraldine, that means they are 99% likely to contract the condition.
Discussing their diagnosis, Jordan said: "We can expect to be symptomatic in our mid to late 40s."
"Conversations about mortality"
"I stand here as a soon-to-be 31-year-old, with Kian set to turn 26 this year, and we know that ultimately we're living against the clock. "We don't take any day for granted, our perspective on life shifted hugely in our early 20s when we had to have conversations about mortality. "You have to think about putting things in place in your 20s that not a lot of people have to think about."
Jordan was just 15 and Cian aged just nine when Geraldine, was diagnosed with FTD in 2010, aged 47. She died in 2016, aged 52, and the brothers have now set themselves the goal of raising £1m in her honour.
Jordan said he and his family were "so grateful" for the coverage he and his brother had received around the London race.
"The support we had yesterday at the London Marathon, to be honest, the biggest thing I felt was gratitude but also relief," Cian said. "We've been banging on the door telling people this story for eight, nine years and finally it feels like it's struck a chord with people. "We had so much coverage that we're grateful for and it's £800,000 our family has raised since our mum passed away."
