specialty focus
Trailblazing
for dementia
Photo: Sarah Pettenon
A nurse has taken on the Kokoda Trail
to raise funds for dementia care.
Sarah Pettenon interviewed by Dallas Bastian
A
lzheimer’s Australia recently put out a call for people
passionate about fighting dementia to walk the Kokoda
Trail in aid of research and support. Registered nurse
Sarah Pettenon answered the challenge.
Pettenon, manager of person directed care at Lifeview
Residential Care, joined a small group of volunteers, including
her colleague, chief financial officer James van Beek, on the
expedition. Over 10 days, the party hiked the single-file trail that
links Papua New Guinea’s mountainous centre to Owers’ Corner
near Port Moresby.
Both of Lifeview’s trekkers helped the provider’s staff members,
residents and families in their fundraising efforts, including the
raffling of a trailer full of household goods worth about $3000.
The team said all funds raised will go directly to Alzheimer’s
Australia Vic.
Pettenon, who specialises in the care of people living with
dementia, said she walked the trail because she witnesses daily
the impact dementia has on individuals and their carers.
Nursing Review spoke with Pettenon about the gruelling
trek and what she hopes people think about when it comes to
dementia care.
NR: What were those first days like on the trail?
SP: Well, we had a very early start. We had to be at an airport
in Port Moresby to fly to Kokoda. We arrived in Kokoda around
12 | nursingreview.com.au
8.30am, where we met porters and the trek leader. Then we
went to a little place called Hoi. It was very hot – 38 degrees
– and when we started at the Arches of the beginning of the
Kokoda Trail, I think we were all just trying to acclimatise to the
heat. We were out in the sun, and I think we all had a headache
that evening, just because we needed to drink more and adjust to
the whole environment.
We were probably a little bit apprehensive. We didn’t know
anyone until that morning, or the night before where we met the
remaining trekkers and our guide. I think we set off feeling quite
apprehensive and nervous. Just the heat, it really did hit you in
the face.
The trail is 96 kilometres, and you walked in it 10 days. What
did you find most challenging about it?
I suppose the toilet facilities were a main topic of conversation
among the trekkers. You just had to overcome your anxiety
around the toilet facilities and move on.
Physically, I felt I had prepared and done quite a bit of training
prior to going to Kokoda. I felt I was up to the challenges of the
terrain. Going downhill was definitely tough on your knees. I had
to take Nurofen a couple of times to overcome that discomfort.
Mentally, I felt day five was my toughest day. We were heading
in the right direction but we went further than we were supposed
to, and our guide had to say to the trek leader: “Look, we’ve
actually gone further than we were meant to. We need to
backtrack.” That kind of threw me into a bit of a spin mentally. At
that point, I had to put some music on and just listen to it with
my headphones, because I just needed to have something to
distract me.