Operation Footsteps

ABOUT US

Hello, my name is Stuart Lyall and this story begins in Saint Andre Sur Orne, France in 1944. That is where my Father Lance Corporal George Lyall of The Black Watch (RHR) Royal Highland Regiment was wounded in WW2 and taken prisoner by the Germans.

My Father along with 60 others were loaded into a small railcar and the doors were then shut tight and locked. The railcar was then pushed out into the baking sunlight where they were left to die. Some were already dead and the remaining ones were wounded to various degrees with their prospects of survival grim at best. “The stench of rotting flesh and death was almost unbearable” my Father was quoted as saying in the newspapers. He managed to punch a hole in the side of the railcar in an effort to breathe and stay alive. After five days in the sun an American patrol moved into the town and as the Germans fled they opened the doors of the railcar and found my Father still alive along with a few others.

Since that day in 1944 when the Americans saved my Father. Four generations of our family were born out of that railcar. My Father went on to live until the age of 93. Then there is myself, my children and my grandchildren.

I have never once forgotten for one moment of my life why or how I am here on earth. It is because of the US Military. From the hands of the American soldiers who liberated him. Then to the Military hospital in Basingstoke England and to the Australian prisoners in that railcar who bonded together with my Father to survive.

You can read all the newspaper articles about my Father and other Heroes in “A Heroes Story”

While this is my story of existence. I am not alone in this Freedom I enjoy. There were many others in that railcar just as there are many other families over generations with stories of survival and sacrifice from WW1, WW2, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. Stories of despair, sacrifice and suffering. However out of all the bad that comes with war. There is good. There are stories of how generations have lived a life of freedom with family values and of lives lived with great success and in peace. Stories of how their Mothers and Fathers sacrificed to supply a better life for their children and grandchildren.

That is why today. We are asking you to provide “Your Story” for all to read and marvel at. How generations of your family tree were born out of your loved ones sacrifices in wars that were fought so we may live in peace and freedom.

How loved one’s stayed home and toiled working and bringing up the family while their spouse was off to war. After many generations. We are all still in this together. Now more than ever our Heroes and their loved ones need our help and support.

Send in your “Story” and let all the people you know come to visit and read how your loved one supported their country. The sacrifices they made and how your life is so wonderful because of them.

"Alzheimers"

Machine gun fire, snipers and grenades all failed to kill my Father.
They wounded him, but it was Alzheimer’s that killed him.

Today 75% of North Americans are now somehow affected by this disease. Either by having it, knowing some family dealing with it or caring for someone with Alzheimer’s. I know firsthand the struggles you all go through if you have a family member suffering with Alzheimer’s. Not only are their lives ruined, your lives are severely changed and altered at the same time. For anyone out there reading this who says “I don’t know anyone with Alzheimer’s” I say to you “Don’t worry, you will” Of the 82 million young people either going to school or playing organized sports in North America. This will be the scourge of your generation. This will be the disease that will rob you of your golden years with your children and grandchildren. All that you grew up loving and all those who love you will be lost in a fog and a haze of mass confusion. Experts predict that in 30 years from now there will be only two types of people in the world. Those with Alzheimer’s and those caring for someone with it.

While some progress has been made, there is still a very long road to travel in an effort to defeat this enemy.

As you take your Footsteps every day. Researchers and scientists work tirelessly around the clock in an effort to develop a cure so that your generation will be rid of this destroyer of human dignity. Your future state of mind and that of your children and grandchildren depend on these people to find a cure for you and all of human kind. They will find a cure. But they need our help. We are all in this fight together now. We are on the same team with a common goal to WIN this fight on Alzheimer’s.

Originally after my Father died I thought of writing of my experience of caring with someone with Alzheimer’s. To write a book however takes years in most cases. Then I came across a book titled “Still Alice” by Lisa Genova which also became an Academy Award winning movie. It’s a wonderful read that you just can’t put down. It guides us through one person’s struggle with Early Onset Alzheimer’s and the trials and tribulations of an entire family as they deal with this diagnosis. After reading “Still Alice” I came across a book by one man living in Cape Cod by the name of Greg O’Brian who was diagnosed with EOA and he takes you on a riveting journey on a daily basis of what it is like to live with Alzheimer’s. A courageous book no doubt. A man that lays it all out there for all the world to see.

Then there is Glen Campbell who was also diagnosed with EOA and starred in a movie titled “I’ll Be Me” touring with his family as he progressed with this disease. It’s passionate and very moving not because we all grew up with his music. But to see the love and support of his family to give him one last hurrah and to expose to the rest of us what we may face in the future. This was my Father to a tee. One minute he is here with us and the next he is in outer space. All of these books and movies gives us a glimpse of what lies ahead for us all if we simply sit idle and watch this disease ruin everyone’s lives.

For those of you who are presently in College or University you will be in your mid 50’s in 2050. In 50 years from then. It will be your very own children in the same position. While it does seem like a long time away. It is not. In order to protect your quality of life and that of your children and grandchildren we all have to come together as one right now. We simply can’t sit back and say “Oh, in 50 years they will have a cure” no more than we can sit back and say “Oh, my retirement will be fine in 50 years” You have to start now to succeed in the end. If you don’t start saving now, who will take care of you in your golden years? If we don’t start finding a cure for Alzheimer’s now. We will all suffer in the end.

I could go on and on and bore you with terms and language related to Alzheimer’s such as. Cognitive Function, Plaques, Brain tangles, Dying Neurons, Synapse and Dendrites. I will instead however speak to something we all can relate to. Like when your Father who you have known and loved every day of your life for the past fifty years. Someone so strong and powerful who you have never seen shed a tear. Stand before you in a nursing home crying as he urinates down his pant leg asking “Why is this happening to me”? Or he can’t figure out how to do up his zipper. Or why the remote for the TV is in the freezer and the milk is in the cupboard and the sugar is in the fridge. When he gets up in the morning in one town and you get a call that he is wandering around in another 50 miles away. Or the worst. When you walk in and he asks. “WHO ARE YOU?”

This could be your very own Grandfather or Grandmother. You Mother or Father. Or YOU.

At this time I would like to ask you to join our club and support our team of Doctors and Scientists to rid the world of this horrible disease. If not for yourself, do it for your children and grandchildren. Eventually one way or the other. You will become a member.

OPERATION FOOTSTEPS