Bill Yeates walks 40km of the Camino de Santiago
Bill Yeates is from Sydney Australia and was diagnosed with Younger Onset Alzheimer’s Disease in July 2019 at the age of 59.
He is a dementia advocate determined to help people live well with dementia and support researchers to accelerate preventions and cures for future generations. Bill received an invitation to attend and present at the Walk The Talk for Dementia event in August 2024 following the impact of his global advocacy work.
Walk The Talk For Dementia is a 4-day walk covering 40 km of the Camino de Santiago where participants will connect with different people, explore topics related to their challenges in dementia, and foster diverse perspectives to reshape ideas and behaviours both professionally and personally. With varied demographics including gender, ethnicity, culture, and experiences, we’ll immerse ourselves in each other’s stories, gaining valuable insights.
Following this immersive experience is a two-day symposium to discuss projects, consolidate reflections, and foster collective solutions and collaborations.
“The flight time was 23 hours, with transfers it ended up being nearer to 30 hours”
After traveling from Sydney to Santiago de Compostela, Bill’s four-day journey commenced.
“I sometimes think that with this diagnosis you are alone, sure you have your family, beyond that there is not much support.
When you come to this event you realise there are a lot of people touched by dementia and they all want to help you.”
Bill explained why day two was the most challenging,
“You are running on your emotional adrenaline on the first day , everything is fine, you are excited , and you just keep walking and walking – not realising if it’s not something you normally do , when you wake up in the morning the body starts to hurt a little bit.”
After four days of walking Bill reached the finish line at the Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela alongside 300+ people – each working in different areas of dementia.
“Completing the walk was a sense of relief, here’s this goal, I have been working hard and at the very end you see the finish line and you have got everyone with you – it was a very special moment.”
Following on from the four-day walk was a two day symposium where Bill participated in a panel discussion focused on leadership in dementia and then lead a group workshop where participants created their own tree.
After being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2019, Bill experienced a period of darkness but came to realise life was worth fighting for. He researched and developed a holistic approach, resulting in his innovative Tree of Awakening Your Positivity, and set himself a goal – which he eventually met – to return to volunteer surf lifesaving.
The tree is a holistic system Bill created shortly after his diagnosis supporting goal setting and purpose.
“Five years ago, when I was diagnosed with younger onset Alzheimer’s disease, other than people telling me do some exercise, eat correctly, there was nothing.
I needed a structure. I created my tree to address this issue – to create something that I could use.Helping the attendees of Walk the Talk create their own tree was a privilege.”
Bill has supported Race Against Dementia through a number of events and was recently the inspiration behind a song from an album inspired by dementia called Invsible No More.
“There’s always been a way that we do things, with a condition like dementia, you have to view it from a different angle, there are things we have been doing for 25 years that haven’t worked, think outside the box and be prepared to change – change your ideas, philosophy and how you look at things.”
As the event ended it marked the beginning of World Alzheimer’s Month.
When asked about this global awareness campaign Bill said,
“I always look at World Alzheimer’s Month as a time where you can all focus on raising awareness for dementia and try to bring down the perceptions and barriers people face with a diagnosis.”
“There is now a lot of research about risk factors, for me it’s helping people with a dementia diagnosis and people who are concerned about getting this disease, now is the time to change. From my understanding prevention may be the best cure.”
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