The Dementia Collective #53 is Live!

This episode can be found HERE

What happens when someone who has spent his life rescuing people faces something he cannot rescue his own mum from?

In this episode, Andrew Karesa sits down with Andrew “Reidy” Reid, longtime Bondi Rescue lifeguard, endurance athlete and dementia advocate, for an incredibly open conversation about lifeguarding, family, caregiving, grief, endurance sport, and his mum Trish’s journey with dementia.

Reidy has spent more than 20 years as a lifeguard, becoming one of the familiar faces of Bondi Rescue. He has also completed more than 50 marathons, competed in Ironman triathlons, and even holds a Guinness World Record for running a marathon carrying a surfboard.

But years before dementia became part of his own family, Reidy had already started using that endurance background to support dementia research through the 155-kilometre Bondi2Berry ride.

Then his mum, Trish, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia.

The conversation explores Reidy’s life beyond dementia, from growing up around Bondi and becoming a lifeguard to the beginnings of Bondi Rescue, extraordinary rescues, more than 50 marathons, Ironman racing, his 2:49 marathon, and the unlikely story behind his Guinness World Record marathon carrying a surfboard.

In this episode:

• Growing up around Bondi and how Reidy became a lifeguard

• The real-life rescues behind Bondi Rescue

• What more than 20 years of lifeguarding has taught him about patience and caregiving

• Trish’s early signs of dementia and eventual diagnosis

• What it feels like to mourn someone who is still alive

• The emotional difficulty of visiting a parent living in a nursing home

• Navigating caregiving and complicated family relationships

• The wild story behind running a 3:17 marathon carrying a surfboard

• Bondi2Berry and raising money for dementia research

This is a conversation about much more than Bondi Rescue. It is about what happens when the person accustomed to being the rescuer becomes a son trying to navigate something he cannot fix.

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