NONAGENARIAN Phyllis Sangster left a precious gift of more than £62,000 to Alzheimer’s Research UK in her will after she passed away at the age of 91.

Phyllis, who lived in Ilkley, pledged a gift to the UK’s leading dementia research charity after devotedly caring for her husband of 53-years, Alex, also known as Sandy, for more than 15 years following his diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.

Phyllis’ passion for dancing meant she met the love of her life at the Tower Ballroom in Blackpool while he was on leave from the Royal Air Force. They married just a few months later and spent many happy years together.

Her close friend and neighbour Beryl Hammill explained Phyllis’ motivation to leave a gift in her will to Alzheimer’s Research UK.

She said: “They were both looking forward to their retirement together until one day, Alex, who was a retired plumber, had taken a boiler apart when he realised he couldn’t remember how to put the parts back together. Phyllis returned home to find him distraught.

“Shortly afterwards he was diagnosed with dementia and thankfully the disease did not progress quickly allowing him to continue driving for a while, something he loved to do. Phyllis and Alex loved to go for drives and went up to Scotland for trips away as Alex was from Aberdeen.

“Phyllis told me that Alzheimer’s had robbed them of their retirement and said if she could prevent anyone going through what she had been through she would. She had cared for him when he lost his ability to talk and walk and care for himself.

“She did everything for him as they did not have any direct family and it wasn’t until a few months before he died at the age of 82 that he went into a care home. After he died Phyllis continued to visit people living with dementia in Alex’s former care home as she felt an affinity to them.”

Joanne Fearne-Green, Legacy Manager at Alzheimer’s Research UK, added: “We are so grateful to Phyllis for remembering Alzheimer’s Research UK in her will. Her gift of £62,400 will help bring our scientists closer to finding new ways to diagnose, prevent, treat and cure Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.

“There are 850,000 people in the UK living with dementia today, including over 25,590 people in West Yorkshire. Dementia poses one of the greatest threats to public health but research has the power to drive the next breakthrough.

“We rely on public donations to fund our research and gifts in wills pay for one in three of our projects. However big or small, these gifts allow ordinary people to make an extraordinary impact on our vital dementia research.

“Our vision at Alzheimer’s Research UK is a world where people are free from the fear, harm and heartbreak of dementia.”

For more information about leaving a gift to fund dementia research, contact Joanne Fearne-Green in confidence at Alzheimer’s Research UK on 0300 111 5333 or email: j.fearne-green@alzheimersresearchuk.org