Dad’s diary inspires fundraising for research
Suzanne Cox’s father, Roger, was an adventure seeker, marathon runner and mountain climber before Parkinson’s disease sadly took him from his Davidson family at the age of 73 in 2020. Shortly after his death, Suzanne (known as Suze), found his diary where he’d documented all the details of his adventures. She was inspired to follow in her father’s footsteps – literally – while raising funds for Shake it Up Australia Foundation which funds research for a Parkinson’s cure. She’s raised over $35,000 through five challenges since November 2020.
In his early sixties, Roger was diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia, a neurological condition that affects the brain’s language centre. Suze said it mimicked a form of dementia.
“Dad couldn’t find a certain word for things,” explains Suze, 41. “When it had deteriorated further, he lost his ability to speak, his ability to understand what we were saying to him and then his ability to read. It’s hard to say what order everything happened because once somebody loses that ability to communicate, you can’t even ask them.”
Parkinson’s is different for everyone but affects movement, muscles, balance and gait, and facial expression. Non- motor symptoms can include sleep difficulties, anxiety, loss of smell, and cognitive impairment. Suze, her brother Kieran and her mother Josephine were shocked at the diagnosis because Roger was healthy.
“It felt especially unfair because he was so fit,” Suze says. “Everybody knew him as an active dad; he was always moving. It was quite shocking.”
After reading about her dad’s adventures in his diary, Suze began her annual November fund-raising challenges – always with a link to her dad.
Roger conquered Everest in 1973, so in 2020, Suze ran 130 kilometres over 12 days – the distance to Everest Base Camp and the time it takes. Because of COVID-19, she couldn’t get to Everest, so Suze ran in different spots around Sydney.
Suze at Everest Base Camp, 50 years after her dad
Raising funds with an ultra-marathon
Her 2021 challenge was an ultra- marathon along the Six-Foot-Track in the Blue Mountains, followed by a 2022 challenge of running 14 kilometres every day for 19 days on the Northern Beaches – equivalent to the 19 City to Surf runs Roger had done before he got sick.
Suze made it to Everest Base Camp in November 2023, 50 years to the day since her dad was there, which made it extra significant.
“It was just so special to follow his journey,” recalls Suze. “I felt his presence a little along the way, but when I got to Base Camp, I had this overwhelming feeling of him being there and I could just feel his pride. I can’t even describe it. It was almost an out-of-body experience. It was quite emotional.”
Every day there are 38 Australians diagnosed with Parkinson’s. Last November, Suze undertook a 38-hour non-stop fitness challenge at her gym.
Roger was always active
“I felt his presence a little along the way, but when I got to Base Camp, I had this overwhelming feeling of him being there.”
“By the end of my dad’s life, he couldn’t walk for 38 seconds, let alone dream of doing something like that,” Suze says. “It was nice to be able to do something that I knew people (with Parkinson’s) didn’t have the choice to do anymore.”
Suze now keeps her own adventure diary, which she hopes to pass on to her four-year-old niece, who she feels might be adventurous.
Suze, who runs an Irish dancing school, is busy planning this year’s adventure challenge.
“I’m debating between Mt Kilimanjaro or something to do with the number 73 – the number of years Dad lived,” Suze says. “He was never one for letting you win a race or a board game, so I wouldn’t mind up one-upping him,” she laughs.