Judy Benjamin, 82, rested in Brighton on 1 September, 15 years after Alzheimer's symptoms began. She told us what a day on the road to London looks like.
A woman of 82 walking roughly 550 miles from Land’s End to London took her one rest day of the week in Brighton, and found time for the Palace Pier while she was here. Judy Benjamin reached the city on 31 August, rested on 1 September, and set off for Lewes on 2 September. Her route then carried her along the coast to Eastbourne, Hastings and Rye.
She is walking to talk about Alzheimer’s, and about her own account of living with it. Her team approached us with the story, we sent questions, and she answered them from the road. Her answers are below, at length and in her own words.
An important caution before them. The Brighton Times has not seen medical records and cannot verify a diagnosis, a recovery or any claim about treatment. Nothing here is medical advice. The advisory sent to us describes Judy Benjamin as an Alzheimer’s survivor who “regained her cognitive health through a personalised precision-medicine approach”, and says she was diagnosed with early Alzheimer’s nearly 15 years ago. In her own answers she puts it slightly differently: “Over 15 years ago, I started having symptoms of Alzheimer’s.”
The walk
The schedule her team sent us has her crossing Sussex in a week:
- 31 August: arrives in Brighton
- 1 September: rest day in Brighton
- 2 September: Brighton to Lewes
- 3 September: Lewes to Hailsham and Eastbourne
- 4 September: on to Bexhill and Hastings
- 5 September: Hastings
- 6 September: Hastings to Rye
The first leg was in early August, in the heat. She walked across America last year. This one runs the length of southern England, and she has built a detour into it: “My ancestors are from the Kent area. I included a stop in Canterbury to honor my past.”
A day on the road, as she describes it, is unglamorous and carefully measured:
“My typical day on the road starts soon after breakfast. I pick up exactly where I left off the day before. I use a Garmin watch and iPhone to plan and track my route with the OS mapping service. Normally I walk 2-3 hours before stopping for a rest for 20 minutes or so. After walking another couple of hours I stop for lunch and refreshing my water supply. I have a support vehicle and videographer who looks after me but doesn’t tag along since I walk at a fairly slow pace.”
The distance varies with the weather and the ground. It “can be as high as 20 miles per day but more often 10-14”. At the end of each day she marks the GPS location, goes to a hotel, and starts again from that exact point in the morning.
Asked for the hardest stretch, she did not name one:
“Each leg of the journey brings its own adventure and challenges. That’s what I love about walking. So far, I have thoroughly enjoyed each area I have walked through, particularly the footpaths that go through pastures dotted with sheep and cattle. The first part of my journey was in early August, a time when the UK experienced a heat wave. That was a bit challenging but still enjoyable.”
Why she is doing it
Her reason starts with her mother, whose illness she says lasted 20 years. “Seeing the person I loved most decline was heart breaking.”
“When I learned how serious a problem Alzheimer’s is in the UK I wanted to take my message of hope and survival to the British public. Walking across the country provides a platform on which to tell my story of survival. That’s a story that needs to be told. People who are given a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s are devastated and often become very depressed.”
She says that when her own symptoms began, a friend put her in touch with Dr Dale Bredesen, a neurologist she describes as having researched Alzheimer’s for more than 30 years. She says he told her that Alzheimer’s is caused by many assaults on the brain and body, and that reversal is possible by removing those assaults, adding that “the process is not a fast fix, and varies greatly with individuals”.
“I knew that I had few choices and decided that I would follow his recommendations to the letter. Those early recommendations later became his ReCode Protocol that can be found on Apollo Health’s website, a company established by Dr. Bredesen and supporters.”
That is her account of what she did. It is not a finding by this paper, and readers worried about their own memory should start with their GP rather than with anything described here.
The foundation
Last year she set up the Alzheimer’s Survivors Foundation, a registered US charity, or 501(c)(3). She is explicit that it is not a research funder:
“The objective was to educate and inform, rather than raising money for Alzheimer’s research. My foundation is: the Alzheimer’s Survivors Foundation (ASF) and of course we need funds to operate and spread the message as well as pass on what we each have done to reverse our symptoms.”
Its site is at alzheimerssurvivors.org and donations go through its donations page.
What she made of Brighton
Judy Benjamin picked the Sussex coast as a high point of the walk so far:
“My passage through Brighton and the Sussex coast was one of the most enjoyable. The coastline is beautiful and easy to walk along. The people in the area are friendly and interested in what I am doing. I should also mention the wonderful restaurants. I had a lovely time on the Brighton Pier. Not only a historic site, but a fun one as well!”
What it means for you
She has already gone. She left Brighton for Lewes on 2 September and was due in Rye by 6 September, so this is not a chance to go and cheer her along the front. What is still open:
- Donations go to the Alzheimer’s Survivors Foundation at alzheimerssurvivors.org/donations. It is a US charity, so UK Gift Aid does not apply.
- The money is not for research. By her own description it funds the foundation’s running costs and its awareness work. Give on that basis or not at all.
- If your worry is your own memory, or a relative’s, go to a GP. An account of one person’s experience, however striking, is not a diagnosis or a treatment plan.
- Her team says she is available to media along the route, which now runs east of us and on towards London.
If your club, school or charity is doing something in or around Brighton that we should cover, tell us at hello@brightontimes.co.uk.
Sources: written answers from Judy Benjamin supplied to The Brighton Times on 6 September 2026, and media advisories from the Alzheimer’s Survivors Foundation dated 31 August and 6 September 2026.
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